Fears of ‘catastrophic’ decline of giant Australian cuttlefish after only 44 counted in dive survey

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Scientists and divers have called on the South Australian government to release official cuttlefish population estimates amid fears of a “catastrophic” decline, after a dive survey counted only 44 individuals. Each year, tens to hundreds of thousands of giant Australian cuttlefish assemble off the coast of Whyalla, in the upper Spencer Gulf, to breed – the only place globally where cuttlefish gather en masse. In surveys dating back to 1998, populations ranged from a low of 13,500 in 2013 to a high of 247,000 in 2020. More than 63,000 were recorded in 2025. Numbers this year were widely expected to be the lowest on record, after the devastating effects of…

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