Issue 50 - June 2019

Huge numbers of cuttlefish begin to gather in South Australia

Jessica Bassano

Thousands of “little aliens” have started to gather in South Australia’s gulf waters with divers from around the world wanting to glimpse the annual cuttlefish pilgrimage expected to follow in coming weeks.

More than 150,000 cuttlefish were counted in the 2018 breeding season survey in South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf. Photos: Carl Charter

Each year more than 100,000 colourful Giant Australian Cuttlefish head to South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park for the only known mass aggregation of its kind in the world.

After appearing on television shows last year including David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II, Totally Wild and The Living Room, this year’s breeding season is expected to attract a record number of tourists to the region.

The aggregation reached 150,000 in 2018 and has grown so popular it has spawned its own celebration, CuttleFest, which is led by Whyalla City Council and supported in kind by Natural Resources EP.

The bizarre cephalopods gather along an 8km stretch of rocky reef at Point Lowly in the Spencer Gulf, about 20km east of Whyalla and almost 400km northwest of the South Australian capital Adelaide.

Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries project manager Carl Charter founded CuttleFest four years ago.

Charter, who has been diving for more than 30 years, says it is difficult to explain just how incredible the experience is.

“It’s like a high definition TV, and it’s actually more pixels than the best TVs we’ve got,” he says.

“They can change to all different colours of the rainbow within a heartbeat.

Cuttlefish under water

“They’ll go from white to black to green or blue or red, depending on their mood and what they’re thinking probably.

“They’re like little aliens really. They’ve got three hearts and they pump green blood and they’ve got all these different colours they communicate with their skin. They could easily be aliens.”

Nicknamed the “rock stars of the ocean” because they live fast and die young, cuttlefish have a life span of just 12-18 months. This makes each May to August breeding season critical because the number of surviving eggs one year directly impacts the number of adult cuttlefish that return the next year to breed.

Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Sepia apama, are found all along the southern Australian coast in waters off of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. But they are not known to aggregate in large numbers outside of Point Lowly.

“Five years ago the numbers plummeted to almost zero, no one knows exactly why, but now over the last five years the population has gotten bigger and bigger,” Charter says.

Cuttlefish-breeding season begins in late May and CuttleFest runs from June 1 until August 31, and will include food and coffee vans, educational activities, guided snorkelling and art displays.

Held in Whyalla, the official opening will feature a kite show, kids activities and a space for visitors to experience swimming with cuttlefish without getting their toes wet via virtual reality goggles.

Cuttlefish under water with diver

But the overwhelming attraction is the chance to swim with the cuttlefish in shallow waters just metres from the shore.

Whyalla Maritime Museum and Visitors Centre visitor and opportunities coordinator Teresa Coles says nothing beats getting up close and personal with the cuttlefish.

“It’s an amazing experience to see their different sizes and where they’re hiding and where they’re swimming,” she says.

“It’s such an easy snorkel and area to get in and out of the water.”

While it is unclear what causes the cuttlefish numbers to fluctuate, favourable conditions and a series of law changes, such as fishing bans, have helped the cuttlefish recover in recent years from 13,000 in 2013 to 150,408 in 2018.

This is approaching the peak estimate of 182,000 in 1999.

Charter says similar numbers to last year are expected this season.

“We’re just starting to hear reports of the cuttlefish moving in,” he says.

“They come in huge numbers by the end of June. We’re expecting probably 100,000 plus cuttlefish in that small 8km piece of coast.”

The event attracts tourists from across the globe, with more than 1000 people estimated to dive with the cuttlefish over three weeks, almost doubling the number of snorkelling tours run by Experience Marine Sanctuaries last year.

Charter says the ideal time to snorkel with the marine creatures is towards the end of June and into July when the females will place their eggs underneath the boulders around Point Lowly.

The Spencer Gulf is typically made up of mangroves, sandy bottoms and sea grass beds, making the uncommon habitat of rocky reef in the area a natural draw card for the cuttlefish.

Also known as the chameleons of the sea, cuttlefish have special skin cells called chromatophores, which allow them to change the colour and texture of their skin within a second from blues to greens to purples and black to help them hide from predators, ambush prey and attract a mate.

“I’ve been taking trips there for the last four years and every time I go there I see different behaviour,” says Charter.

“If you go there, and you’ve never been before, and you swim across hundreds of them and keep on moving… they’ll probably swim away from you.

“But if you hover there and watch them for 10 minutes, you’ll see different things.

“The female will duck under a ledge and lay some eggs, then she’ll come back out and the male will try to chaperone her and the other males will come in with the shimmering effect on their backs to try and compete for her.”

Learn more by clicking here.

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Conservation Photography

Baby Squid, Lembeh, Indonesia – Jack’s Underwater Photography Feature

Baby Squid in Blackwater Photography – Photo taken on Lembeh, Indonesia

baby squid swimming in black water

Squids, octopuses, and cuttlefishes are among the few animals in the world that can change the color of their skin in the blink of an eye. These cephalopods—a group of mollusks with arms attached to their heads—can change their skin tone to match their surroundings, rendering them nearly invisible, or alternatively give themselves a pattern that makes them stand out.

Many thousands of color-changing cells called chromatophores just below the surface of the skin are responsible for these remarkable transformations. The center of each chromatophore contains an elastic sac full of pigment, rather like a tiny balloon, which may be colored black, brown, orange, red or yellow. If you stretched a dye-filled balloon, the color would gather in one spot, stretching out the surface and making the color appear brighter—and this is the same way chromatophores work. A complex array of nerves and muscles controls whether the sac is expanded or contracted and, when the sac expands, the color is more visible. Besides chromatophores, some cephalopods also have iridophores and leucophores. Iridophores have stacks of reflecting plates that create iridescent greens, blues, silvers and golds, while leucophores mirror back the colors of the environment, making the animal less conspicuous.

See more of Jack Fung’s underwater photography on Instagram and at https://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/profile/1752805/

Conservation Photography

Under the Waves with Karim Iliya, June 2019

Many species of whale were almost hunted to extinction for their oil. We usually stop the killing when it is no longer lucrative. Much of the time, the fate of entire societies of creatures lays in the hands of profit, and what can make the most money. Even then, we undervalue natureʼs economic value. It is time we put more value on preserving ecosystems and their inhabitants, as a means of safeguarding our future. When we got in the water with the common dolphins we were surprised to see a fin whale amongst them. Two very different species interacting. Fin whales, the second largest animal that has ever lived, is still being hunted in some parts of the world. Despite their enormous size, they get much less attention than the blue whale.

Whale swimming under water

Karim Iliya Logo

Karim was published in National Geographic magazine for his humpback whale photography. He now leads his own trips so that others can swim with whales.

If you are interested in swimming with or photographing humpback whales, Karim guides people in small trips betweenAugust and October every year in Tonga. Visitwww.dancewithwhales.com to find out more

To see more of Karim’s work, visit his website at www.karimphotography.com

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Issue 50 - June 2019

SEVENSEAS Travel Magazine – June 2019 – Issue 50

SEVENSEAS Media Magazine Cover Giacomo Abrusci

Remove 5 pounds of ocean plastic and support a coastal community

SEVENSEAS Media has been working with communities throughout Thailand to implement innovative approaches on waste reduction, recycling, and more responsible management of marine resources. With every $30 donation we will pull 5 pounds of plastic from the ocean. Read more…

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National Geographic’s Hostile Planet: Oceans – Putting the Cinema into Conservation

Nearly all wildlife film-makers get into the industry because we care about the environment. But even the worthiest eco-warrior amongst us comes to the realization that, traditionally, these stories aren’t the ones that make it into the high-end programs. Read more…

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Huge numbers of cuttlefish begin to gather in South Australia

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Under the Waves with Karim Iliya, May 2019

Many specie of whale were almost hunted to extinction for their oil. We usually stop the killing when it is no longer lucrative. Much of the time, the fate of entire societies of creatures lays in the hands of profit… Read more…

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Baby Squid – Jack’s Underwater Photography Feature

Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) are colorful fish with shades ranging from yellow to orange, brown or pink, but thanks to the success of the movie “Finding Nemo” we always picture them by their most common color combination: bright orange with white stripes surrounded by thin black lines. Read more…

FEATURE DESTINATION: Game-changing Agreement for National Parks and Community Development in Chilean Patagonia

Chilean Patagonia

The President of the Republic of Chile came to an agreement with an international conservation coalition to create a finance mechanism for the permanent, long-term management of the Route of Parks of Patagonia. See more…

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FEATURE DESTINATION: Pichilemu, the World Surfing Capital

Pichilemu in Mapuche language means “Little Forrest”. Beautiful and calm spa located in the central zone of Chile, in the last decades has become worldwide famous because of the quality of its waves and beautiful landscapes that go from the sea to the mountain range. Read more…

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Happy World Ocean’s Day!

Here is some important information and links for you and your network during this exciting week for our community. Read more…

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Poseidon Creations Underwater Imagery

Poseidon Creations was founded with the intentions of using underwater images to expose and spark discussion about conservation issues and generate new ideas to protect the environment. Graham and Gloria set the project up soon after they met in Cairns, Australia four years ago. Read more…

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#PrideInTheOcean Campaign

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Pride Outside – a nonprofit dedicated to connecting the LGBTQ community around the outdoors – teamed up to create #PrideInTheOcean, a social media visibility campaign for LGBTQ folks in ocean spaces. Read more…

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FEATURE DESTINATION: Visit the Most Impressive Glaciers of the Chilean Patagonia

Over 80% of Latin America’s glaciers are in Chile. Therefore, the Chilean Patagonia offers hundreds of tours and excursions to view these impressive glaciers. Read more…

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Connecting to Nature with the Wild Swimming Brothers

Wild swimming is described as the practice of swimming for pleasure in natural waters such as rivers, ponds, streams, rivers and the ocean. The experience can be liberating… Read more…

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Holy Crab: Sailing to a Remote Micronesian Island Dedicated to Conservation

Braving the swells of the Pacific Ocean’s deepest waters aboard a fifty-foot sailboat is not an easy feat, but for the sailors of Okeanos Marianas the arduous journey to meet the mythical chief of Gaferut island was worth the trip. Read more…

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4ocean partners with Air Canada to reduce single-use plastics

4ocean, the global ocean cleanup company, announced it has partnered with Air Canada to reduce and eventually eliminate single-use plastics on the airline’s aircrafts and in its lounges. Read more…

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Mote Science Education Aquarium

Mote Marine Laboratory leadership is pleased to announce the selection of a partnership between a local construction management company and an international firm for the construction of Mote Science Education Aquarium. Read more…

SEVENSEAS FEATURED TRAVEL

Below are a few of our favorite tour centers and operators. Be sure to mention SEVENSEAS Media for special rates and discounts when making your inquiry.

Susan Bruce Travel

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Oceanic Society Expeditions.

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Alelí Tours Puerto Rico

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Isla Mar Research Expeditions – Field Courses in Puerto Rico

A field course coordination company in Puerto Rico that specializes in organizing and hosting island ecology (marine/terrestrial) themed courses. More info.

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Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

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Pete Oxford Expeditions.

We offer unique, small group expeditions for travelers and photographers to remote and pristine destinations and cultures around the world. More info.

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Alnitak Conservation in Action on Volunteer Expeditions

Alnitak is a grassroots marine science organization dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity in our oceans. From May through to October, we run expeditions to survey the rich waters in the Balearic Sea, inviting any ocean enthusiasts to join us on board. Our expeditions take place in the stunning Cabrera National Park and the Menorca Biosphere Reserve. Read more…

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Since 2004, SEVENSEAS Media has fostered an informal and non-partisan platform to promote understanding of key issues and challenges while building partnerships across an increasingly diverse group of marine conservation professionals and students.

Our mission is to promote communication and build partnerships across the global marine community and to identify and address gaps in the community’s work. SEVENSEAS Media achieves this through multimedia promotion and partnerships. The community consists of a diverse and growing group of participants, including non-governmental organizations, government agencies, foundations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, fellowship programs, independent consultants, and academia/students.

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