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AMAZING EXPERIENCE: The Thomson family - Jordi, Mark, Maia and Dominica - at their Cuttlefest 2018 dive and, below, ready to dive in.
Cufflefest 2018 may have finished in Whyalla but the amazing giant cuttlefish are still out there.
The inaugural Whyalla Cuttlefest was a huge success with a range of activities and booked-out organised dives. The fest was put together by Natural Resources Eyre Peninsula with major sponsorship from the City of Whyalla.
Whyalla Diving Services provided all the equipment for the Cuttlefest dives and is still running its own dive expeditions until the middle of August.
If feedback from the Thomson family of Whyalla is anything to go … it is definitely something you shouldn’t miss.
Dominica, Mark, Maia and Jordi Thomson took advantage of the Curious Cuttles information night at the South Whyalla Football Club and then were blown away when they went out for a Cuttlefest 2018 dive the next day.
“We couldn’t get the smiles off our faces,” Dominica said.
“To have learnt from the Cuttlefish talks on Saturday night that they are endemic to this area, have evolved over 200-300 million years and only live for a year, meant that on the day we were very aware of the special moments we were having.
“To watch them go through their mating rituals was incredible.
“They are such alien, prehistoric-looking creatures, worth our admiration and protection.”
The Thomson family is new to Whyalla and a wonderful reminder to us all that we live in a great city and should take advantage of this fantastic region we live in.
“We got here five weeks into term one and after five week we bought a house,” Dominica said.
“Our two youngest came and started school last term and the whole community has been very welcoming.
“We love it here and want to share Whyalla with everyone.”
Barbara Murphy, the Education & Volunteer Support Officer for Natural Resources EP, said it was great to be involved with the guided snorkelling cuttlefish experience and other family friendly events during Cuttlefest 2018.
"As word gets out more I think we can expect even more people to visit Whyalla for Cuttlefest next year, this is sure to be a boom for ecotourism," Barbara said.
"Some of our other best-kept natural secrets are the rare shingle ridges at Fitzgerald Bay and the visiting humpback whales at Stony Point.
“Through educational experiences like Cuttlefest we have recruited ocean loving ambassadors and the Whyalla community has a growing sense of pride about the local environment and want to do more to protect it.”
Meanwhile, Tony Bramley from the Whyalla Diving Services said they were still running regular dives on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the middle of August. You can also contact them to organise group dives on all other days.
“There’s still plenty of them (cuttlefish) out there and plenty of great opportunities to have a dive,” Tony said.
Whyalla Diving Services caters for snorkelers, licensed scuba divers and also has an introductory scuba diving experience. For more information call 8645 8050.
