Every year between the months of May and July thousands of Giant Australian Cuttlefish find their way to Whyalla for their mating rituals along with hundreds of divers that will go up to catch them in the act each year!
This year Diving Adelaide took up a big group of 30 divers to explore the bay and the famous Fenceline dive site! In recent years the cuttlefish numbers were down a bit, so we were pleased to hear right before the trip that they had moved into the bay in considerable numbers and couldn’t wait to see it with our own eyes! Right before we jumped in for the first dive last Saturday afternoon, we spoke to a local who has been diving the Fenceline and Blacks Point annually for the last 20 years and he said that he had never seen them in these numbers before at either of those dive sites – we were pumped!!
Diving Adelaide Divemasters Sharon and Shane were leading the first two dives and were pleased to see that the local diver hadn’t lied as the ocean floor was lined with them and the mating rituals were already in full swing with plenty of massive males competing for the smaller females!
The day dives were amazing, as the cuttlefish are flirting, battling, distracting and mating everywhere and as they are constantly changing their appearance it’s a kaleidoscope of colours everywhere you look! It’s like swimming over a disco carpet that constantly moves, changes shapes and changes colour! It’s such a unique experience that we highly recommend it to any diver!
That evening we built a massive bonfire in the fire pit outside the cottages where we were staying and DM Renee and myself arrived late that night, just in time for BBQ and drinks around the fire!
The next day, the group split and half of us went to Tumby Bay to explore the local jetty with Shane and myself (more about that awesome dive later!), while the other half stayed in Whyalla to do more dives with the cuttlefish and a great pub dinner at the local Eyre Hotel and more drinks around the fire later that night! Half the team headed off straight away on the Monday morning, while the other half did another dive before starting the 5 hour drive back down to Adelaide!
The season has started early this year, so if you’ve never been to Whyalla, we recommend going as soon as possible, as nobody knows how long the season lasts once it’s in full swing and it’s definitely in full swing now! It’s such a unique experience that should be on everyone’s diving bucket list – to quote Renee “Today I got to tick another dive item off my bucket list! Handsomely dressed gentleman gliding along searching for their perfect mate! Colliding in a lovers embrace only to spark jealousy amongst their rivals! Dueling for their lovers affection, only to watch her die upon laying her eggs! Giant cuttlefish, how amazing is nature!”.
=> Next trip: June Long Weekend 2016!
