Australian Giant Cuttlefish: The Whyalla Agggregation
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Article on the world's largest aggregation of cephalopods.
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Story by Linda Lee Rathbun, Photo by Steven David Miller
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The Whyalla Aggregation
By Linda Lee Rathbun, Photo by Steven David Miller
The seaweed in False Bay is swaying, and some of it has eyes. A squashed football torpedoes forward, trailing a bundle of flowing arms. Just as quickly, the football reverses at full throttle, sucking water into a mantle and jetting it out through a swiveling funnel, revealing that it--and the seaweed--are really Australian giant cuttlefish. One settles on a patch of sand and turns from prickly brown to a smooth opal, blending with the bottom. Another cuttlefish waltzes gracefully by fluttering lateral fins--one moment a golden skirt of shimmering gossamer, the next a pulsating red flamenco dress edged with white.
Above the surface, Whyalla fans out around the bay. To the west is the BHP Jetty where a portion of the annual output of over one million tonnes of steel is shipped. To the east is the Port Bonython Jetty where LPG and crude oil are loaded onto marine tankers for export. A straight line between the two jetties encloses False Bay in a semicircle where tens of thousands of cuttlefish mate and spawn in the largest known aggregation of cephalopods on the planet.
Today's population is 10 to 15 per cent of what it was a decade ago when the annual harvest by locals was only four tonnes. In the mid-1990s, an overseas market was discovered and export licenses were granted. Fishermen met the blossoming demand with a take of 40 tonnes in 1995. In 1996, it was 83 tonnes. In 1997, 26 boats took 262 tonnes: 250,000 cuttlefish over a full breeding season.
"The decks of the fishing boats" describes Tony Bramley, president of the Whyalla Sports Divers Club, "were black with ink, as were the fishermen in their raincoats." Thirty-eight boats arrived in False Bay for the 1998 season; within four weeks 150,000 cuttlefish were rented from the water, so depleting the population that the fishermen themselves declared a ten-day moratorium in hopes of a recovery. There wasn't one. Tony and the Sports Club sprang into action, and after intense lobbying to the South Australian government, were instrumental in having False Bay closed to further cephalopod fishing until the end of that season. In 2002, an indefinite closure was declared during the breeding season, pending further consideration for Marine Park status.
Meanwhile, the "Whyalla Aggregation" has gained fame amoung cephalopod scientists, documentary filmmakers, and divers from around the world. Like a voyeur, you dive five meters under the water's surface to observe the cuttlefish dashing about like animated kaleidoscopes on amphetamines. You notice a large specimen with a decorative ruffle along its outer arms: a male looking for love. He hovers above a smaller female, keeping her from the bevy of males anxious to mate with her. He zooms over to an approaching rival and they engorge themselves to appear bigger, fluttering and waving their bannered arms. An intense pyrotechnic duel follows as each pulsates jeweled red and white stripes across its body and arms.
The female pays no attention to this brouhaha, instead inspecting a rock as a suitable site to attach an egg. The victorious male returns to her side and she signals him with a wave of reflected, dappled white light along her arms. They face each other like tango dancers swaying to the rhythm of the sea. The male grabs her in a headlock and suddenly their arms tangle as they cling to each other. Their tango finishes and he resumes his guard post. A small male approaches, morphing into the shape and color of a female. The guard lets him past, thinking that now there are two females requiring his protection. When a large male swims up and engages the guard in Technicolor fisticuffs, the female impersonator seizes the moment and mates with the female. The guard is so busy that he does not notice he has been made a cuckold.
It is just that sort of behaviour that makes the Whyalla Aggregation such a delight to dive with.
THE END
The cuttlefish season is May through August. For diving information contact Tony Bramley at whydive@ozemail.com.au or 08-8645-8050. For information on cuttlefish and Whyalla, visit www.cuttlefishcapital.com.au
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