June 2005, Spencer Gulf, South Australia, township of Whyalla, Cherie and I have just waded into the calm, shallow, clear, cool waters off the rocks of a little bay in Spencer gulf. In just 5 meters of water we find ourselves confronted by a sex orgy of Giant Australian Cuttlefish that defies the imagination. Surrounding us and our companions are hundreds of male cuttlefish competing with each other for the opportunity to mate with a minority of females.

The behaviour is extraordinary and spectacular, in every direction there are groups of 5 to 10 cuttlefish, among each group is one female closely guarded by a dominant male, she is using his sperm to fertilise her eggs but other large males are attempting to bluff him away so they can mate with her. The two males face off and spread their tentacles like Japanese fans in an attempt to out posture the other. In each case once the two big males are occupied the inferior males try to slip in and mate with the female. Sometimes they are successful especially when one of them has been hovering close by masquerading as a female and gets first crack at her.

Cherie and I move from group to group encountering hundreds during the first dive of 75 minutes in 14 degree water temperature. Thank heavens for our Apollo dry suits. I did three dives today, all of them on one tank thanks to the maximum depth of 5 meters. Not all the dives lasted that long, the action was so spectacular that on the second dive I shot through my 36 exposure roll of film in 20 minutes. The images I captured reveal all the behaviour of the giant cuttlefish orgies at Whyalla and in the future will form part of an entertaining evening at one of the many Dive 2000 Dive Club nights we are planning.

One image is presented here; Cherie is observing two dominant males in bluff posture, nearby smaller males wait for a chance to get to his female. Picture by Kevin Deacon, Fuji Velvia film, Nikon F5 in Sea & Sea Housing, 20mm lens, twin Sea & Sea strobes providing flash fill to compliment the available sunlight.