Cuttlefish are the magicians of the sea. They are marine molluscs and have been around for a very, very long time dating back to the cretaceous period.
They inhabit tropical and temperate water and are found along the coasts of East and South Asia, Western Europe, The Mediterranean and the coasts of Africa and Australia. We are very lucky to have them here and the image above was taken in 2009 in The Great Barrier Reef by us!
Here are a few facts about one of our favourite animals...
- There are over 120 distinct species of cuttlefish
- They can manually control their buoyancy by using their internal cuttlebone shell
- They can hypnotise their prey by putting on a colourful light show
- They can change to almost any colour to blend into their surroundings
- They can also mimic the shape and texture of objects around them to hide
- Cuttlefish have three hearts and blue-green blood!
- Male cuttlefish camouflage themselves as females to get past competing males and woo the females!
- Cuttlefish have seriously impressive vision and can even see behind them!
We love our oceans and want to keep them full of cuttlefish, and all other fish and mammals, and there's so much we can all do to help achieve that. Make great choices when it comes to what you use, what you eat and how you dispose of waste. It all can help our environment and oceans.
