Field Notes whyalla, Australia-Giant Cuttlefish

Ok, I’m a few months behind on this one. Bear with me, or cuttlefish with me, no no that’s preposterous. We were lucky enough to have visited Australia for the second time in under two years, it’s one of my favorite countries in the world. This time it was to bag one of my wishlist experiences- The elusive Australian Giant Cuttlefish! The cuttlefish aggregation is one of the largest in the world and it’s quickly becoming my favorite. I am writing this blog as a reminder to myself what equipment I used when I go back, and for those other aspiring underwater photographers to see what equipment they may want to bring or not!

Biology lesson

Identification

The Australian Giant Cuttlefish (Sepia apama) is the largest cuttlefish species in the world. I can personally attest to the fact that their sizes vary alot. They can be identified by two rows of three skin flap-like papillae over each eye. Their cuttlebones can be identified by the lack of a spine and a rough V-shaped thickening (callus) at posterior end. They have bulky body, with 10 appendages (8 short, heavy arms, and 2 larger extensible tentacles), highly developed eyes, and a reddish-brown skin with white spots on the arms and mantle. Along each side of the body, a long, pale lateral fin extends the length of the mantle; these fins are used in maneuvering. Cephalopods’ bodies are streamlined, making them efficient at swimming. In addition to their swimming abilities, they have the ability to change colors by the means of contracting or expanding pigments in special cells called chromatophores, located in the skin.

Max size: 10 kg and 50 cm mantle and 100cm with tentacles (22 lbs and 20 inches mantle length and 40 inches long total).

location location location

Where do I see these guys?

Well the short answer is Whyalla, long answer is that they range from and are endemic to the southern coastal waters of Australia, and is found as far north as Moreton Bay (QLD) on the east-coast and on the west-coast up to Ningaloo Reef (WA). But, the most famous and well known aggregation of them is in the Spencer Gulf with probably the best access to them being in Whyalla Australia. Sepia apama spawn from April to September, with a peak spawning period of May-June. Spectacular mass spawning occurs in the Spencer Gulf where thousands of Giant Cuttlefish congregate in relatively small patches of rocky reefs. Kind of like other animals, the best time to see them is in mating season!

We did start our adventure in Sydney and travelled to Manly, which like many Australian towns is a lovely location as the Australian culture is pleasant and it’s evident they believe in access to nature for everyone (plus I am addicted to flat whites, I won’t lie to you). In Manly and other populations in this region of Australia, the Giant Cuttle fish are HUGE. I was free-diving when I photographed the individual above and when I got down to it at about 20 feet or so, it was kind of intimidating how bit it looked underwater! There are other species of cuttlefish and at least one other species can be found in Cabbage Tree Bay. We rented dive gear through Dive Center Manly which we found reasonably priced and the staff very knowledgable and responsive via email. If you go to Manly, don’t forget to have a flat white, but also don’t miss out on Clifton Gardens, which was an AMAZING macro dive site.

I am very lucky, my wife let us change plans for the next half of the trip and we pivoted to Whyalla Australia where the most famous aggregation happens. Whyalla is an industrial town but like most small Australian towns, it’s very lovable. They’re very proud of their cuttlefish. We did our trip at the end of June and there were plenty of cuttlefish about! Unfortunately when we went it was rather windy (and really freaking cold) which worsened the visibility, but, the cuttlefish are so shallow that you really don’t need SCUBA if you don’t want to. Most of my photos were less than 6 feet deep (especially my light ray photos).

Let’s talk photography

What did I find most useful?

My favorite lens for this trip was the Canon 8-15mm fisheye. I did play around with a 1.4x kenko extender however I found for this size subject, it was best to go with the fisheye alone. For photos I use two Inon Z330 II strobes. For video I am absolutely loving the Kraken 15K solar flare mini lights with Kraken remote control. The remote control keeps the lighting control setup nice and easy and I can control both lights with one hand which is really handy for night diving or general diving (less task loading is best). They are shallow enough where you can get plenty of video without lights, just at this time when I dove the water was a bit murkier than they usually see.

Eventhough the cuttlefish barely recognize you’re there, it’s still best to approach slowly and make deliberate movements as they will spook on occasion.

Here are photos with the Canon EF fisheye 8-15mm. On Average these shots were about ISO 200, f/16, manual strobe power, shutter 1/200th. I typically expose for the sun and then start choosing subjects as the photos are more consistent than if you were to keep switching settings.

You’re normal wide angle is also an excellent Choice, I used the Canon EF 16-35L (first version) for some video and additional photos as seen below.

What would I do differently next time?

First, I would take more photos! Second, I would bring a macro lens, either a 50mm or a 100mm for detail shots of the colors of the cuttlefish and if you happen to find eggs, macro would be an excellent way to add to your series of shots.

My best strategy here was to SCUBA dive for video purposes and then I would free dive for photos. My favorite lens for this trip was the fisheye, but if you have a good wide angle, you really can’t go wrong either! My focus was to try for close focus wide angle (CFWA) technique. I would also try and find more aggregations of males defending females as I tended to find a lot of solitary individuals or just a pair of cuttlefish.

Logistics of Whyalla

I LOVED this little dive site. They had bathrooms, a food stand, and a nice walkway down to the water. It was really quite nice. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Adelaide. As of the time of this blog there is still a dive shop in Whyalla, but please please check before you book your trip. We did see a sign that the shop was for sale, not sure how long it’ll be around. We rented from Whyalla Diving Services which are really the only game in town! The water was very cold (somewhere around 50 F) so if you’re a drysuit diver, that’s best, we aren’t but we found the wetsuits they offer to be good albeit very worn out. Again, this is a shallow dive, almost all the cuttlefish we saw were in 10 feet of water or less.

You can book a snorkel tour with them, but we found the are to be very navigable. There are two main dive sites, I recommend the main one at Stony Point. You can always talk to the dive shop about other places to dive, I’d recommend asking them as there are places like near the lighthouse where the currents are hazardous.

Accommodation is fairly straight forward, eventhough Whyalla is kind of remote, there are hotels and AirBnB’s in the area.

A google maps view of the dive site, approximately 30 minutes from the dive shop.

remember…

Remember to have fun. Also remember to observe the animals and really take in their behavior, their movements. We are always so lucky to witness such events. It’s all about the memories, the photos are just a fun second!