As we suited up to enter the water, a group of about four dolphins swam up to the boat, circling us as we all ran to the bow in excitement.  The dolphins waited patiently until we entered the water, and then put on a show for us.  They swam around us in crazed circles, lopping up right in from of us then dangling on the surface looking down.  This animal is so adept in its environment, and I for one felt like a clumsy oaf while they swirled all around.  After awhile they grew bored with us and left, and we turned our attention to the rocky walls, looking for cuttlefish.  The visibility was terrible after a week of wind, but the cuttlefish were nevertheless fascinating, carrying on with the dramas of love and reproduction.  My favorite trick of theirs is this: large males have the greatest success with the ladies, and the smaller males realize this.  To compensate, these fellows will make themselves look just like one of the girls: smaller with shorter tentacles.  When the larger male isn’t looking, this fraud will sneak in and mate with the female, thereby avoiding a confrontation.  Clever, don’t you think?  Perhaps one of them should write a manual: How to Succeed in Love by Cross-dressing.     

Our second boat dive was just amazing.  The water was shallow, no more than twenty feet, and could have easily been enjoyed by snorkellers.  There were cuttlefish everywhere you looked, hundreds of them.  They mesmerized me with their colour changes, with their affection for each other, and with their curiosity.  One was fascinated by Steve’s camera and light strobe, coming close and reaching out a tentacle to touch it.  We had waited a week in Whyalla, through foul weather, braving very cold water, and the cuttlefish were worth every second of it.  I have never been on a dive where I saw so many animals, and I highly recommend the experience to anyone who dives.  And, I have yet to meet the diver who doesn’t go into orbit when they encounter a cuttlefish—-so, imagine diving with hundreds of them. 

On our way back to the marina, our skipper told us that before commercial fishermen had harvested the cuttlefish, the water was thick with them.  I hope that Whyalla succeeds in protecting these animals, I honestly believe that it could be one of the country’s great dives. 

A group of dolphins swooped up beside our boat, riding the bow wave and surfing on our wake.  Why Whyalla?  That’s why.