Nat Geo News features crab photos from Santo 2006!

Postgrad Jose Mendoza (“J. C.”) writes,

The Crustacean Team of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (DBS, NUS) were delighted to have their crab photos featured recently in National Geographic News online – “PHOTOS: A World of Crabs from One Tiny Island” (Wed 03 Dec 2008).

The photo series stemmed from work done during the SANTO 2006 Expedition, an international effort to document the marine biodiversity of the island of Espritu Santo, in the southern Pacific republic of Vanuatu.

Team members went through six weeks of rigorous work, involving night-and-day diving and beach-combing forays, trawling and dredging off the coast on board the French research vessel Alis, as well as sorting and curating the daily catches.

Photographers documented specimens ranging from less than a centimeter to about 50 cm as they were brought in daily and even hourly. However, these specimens were first meticulously prepared by, for example, removing the dense covering of silt and debris to reveal the natural details and hues of the zoological fauna. Specific preservation and labelling of the specimens followed thereafter. The Raffles Museum team was made up of Peter Ng (leader), Tan Swee Hee, Tan Heok Hui and JC Mendoza.

Additional info about the SANTO 2006 Expedition is available at www.ird.fr/recherche/santo2006/english/index.htm.