Cuttlefish, coffees and a coxswain.
Matt made eye contact with me and gave me the nod, and I realised he wanted me to not just drive the boat this tour, but to be the tour guide as well. I nodded back, swallowed, checked that there were no snorkellers in front of the boat, and started… “Welcome to Stony Point and to the cuttlefish mating season here on Barngarla Country….”
A fortnight earlier I was having an office day in Adelaide while planning my Winter move to North Queensland. I had admitted defeat. Convincing SA women who were new to outdoor adventure to come paddling with me in Winter was like flogging a dead horse. I had decided to make hay where the sun shines and return to my old employer, Outer Limits Adventure in Townsville North Queensland, but I still had a few tours to run first. A call was coming in from my old employer from 2017 in Port Lincoln. It was rare to hear from him, so I wasn’t sure what it would be about. “Do you want a job for Winter?” he asked. “Sorry, you’re too late! I’ve just accepted work up in Queensland!”. “When do you leave? July? I’ll have you until then!”.
Every year tens of thousands of Australian Giant Cuttlefish aggregate at the top of the Spencer Gulf, South Australia, to mate. It’s like a big techni-coloured orgy for the cuttlefish. They meet, they mate, they mate some more, then the females lay their eggs, and the exhausted cuttlefish all die.
A pair of mating cuttlefish. Photo taken while snorkelling in icy 10 degrees Celcius water.
Prior to my friend, mentor and boss, Matt Waller starting up Cuttys Glass Bottom Boat Tours at Stony Point in 2021, the only way to witness this unique, once-a-year event was to get wet. The snorkelling here is technically easy (shallow, no swell, and usually very sheltered with light off-shore winds), however, it’s psychologically difficult! The icy waters around Whyalla call for 7mm wetsuits, hoods, gloves, booties, fins, and of course, a camera, so it’s a fair bit of effort just to get in the gear, let alone get in the drink! Now, thanks to Waller’s uncanny ability to spot gaps in the market, thousands of tourists are flocking to Stony Point to see the cuttlefish from the warmth, comfort and safety of Fish Seeker; Matt’s glass-bottom boat.
Despite having a certificate II in maritime operations, a Grade I coxswains certificate, a marine radio operater’s licence and a boat licence, I hadn’t worked on boats since the last time I worked for Matt on his Port Lincoln Shark Cage Diving tours back in 2018. This didn’t bother him, and he assured me he would teach me everything I would need to know. “Trust me Elise. It’s easy!”.
He was right. The work was easy because we took turns to lead tours, giving time for each of us to have breaks. The conditions for customers were easy, because typically the breeze blows offshore, meaning the boat doesn’t rock much. The boat handling was easy, because it had one simple outboard motor, a very shallow draft, we only had to go out about 20metres from shore, and there were no other boats to navigate around. The sales pitch was easy, because grey nomads were keeping the phone ringing off the hook to book in a tour on their caravan trip drive between the east and west coast of Australia. Finding the wildlife was easy because we would spot literally hundreds of cuttlefish every tour, AND my working conditions were easy because we had a super small and fun team, cosy warm work uniforms, a cuddly work doggo, and espresso coffees on tap. Can’t complain! (You can click here to see a reel of a day-in-the-life at Cuttys)
Coffee break between tours with work friends at Cuttys Boat Tours.
The best part about the job (apart from cute dogs, great coffee and a great team) would have to be the surprised faces of boomers when they realised that I was going to be their skipper. I might have taken their payment or made their toastie (neither of which surprised them), but after helping these guests on board, they would realise that Matt was throwing the ropes and I was the only staff member left onboard. You could see them looking around for the skipper, only to realise it was in fact, me! There’s something so oddly satisfying about watching the reactions of people when you know you’re smashing a stereotype they’ve long held on to!
Each day I became more confident with driving Fish Seeker, with answering curly cuttlefish questions (to the point that guests asked if I was a marine biologist! Spoiler…. I’m not!), and with owning my role as master of the vessel. Matt told me that when you give a boat to a guy, he’ll typically overestimate his abilities and test the boat’s limits, where as when you give a boat to a girl, she’ll typically underestimate her abilities, and keep the boat too safely within it’s limits. It’s good to find a happy medium, where you trust your own capabilities, and confidently learn the capabilities of the boat without pushing beyond what’s safe in the process!
I had the best month with SO many visitors of family and friends from Adelaide, Mildura, Jamestown, and beyond! It was so cool to be a part of the growing hub of activity that surrounds the cuttlefish season now at Whyalla. I liken it to a ski resort; you have people together from all over the world for a common recreational interest, and surrounding that interest there’s the hospitality to service them all. Stony Point is no different! I met divers and photographers from all over the world! There were regulars who came every day, and some just for the weekends. There were the partners who weren’t diving, but they sat and chatted by the fire to watch and socialise and be part of it. There was EMS (experiencing marine sanctuaries) teams there taking schools out to snorkel. There were locals coming every day just to look at the conditions and socialise and grab a coffee. It was such a chilled and happy atmosphere and so good to see everyone there having a minimal impact on the cuttlefish, having a minimal impact on the local environment at Stony Point, but having a huge impact on the economy of Whyalla through tourism. The value of those cuttlefish alive is far greater than their value on the end of a hook!
I highly recommend you check out a glass bottom boat tour with Cuttys next Winter to learn all about these incredible creatures, then book yourself in for a dive with Whyalla Dive Services too so you can get up close and personal with them after!
I’m not sure if I’ll be driving the boat again next year as I have some other adventure ideas up my sleeve, but I’ll definitely be visiting the apres-dive atmosphere of Stony Point again in 2024 for sure!
Cuttys operate their 45minute cuttlefish tours during the Winter months at Stony Point or Point Lowly, about 35kms out of Whyalla. You can learn more or book online here.
