https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75gyw0nkzno
“Every winter, a sliver of the South Australian coast hosts the world's largest
mating event for giant cuttlefish.
Some years, hundreds of thousands of the unique marine species endemic to
Australia gather along the Cuttlefish Coast for the annual mating season,
bringing their colourful, shape-shifting figures to the shallow waters and
attracting thousands of keen divers.
But this year, the turnout was the lowest on record, sparking concerns of a
"catastrophic decline" of the species.
Official figures released this month estimate just 1,811 cuttlefish turned up
to mate this year, down from 63,000 last year - a 97% drop.
The state government says a toxic algal bloom that has ravaged the state's
coastline for more than 18 months may be to blame for the sharp decline.
The low figures have also prompted calls for the species to be listed as
endangered.
Adult cuttlefish typically die after breeding so each mating season is crucial
for the species' future, but in recent months, just 440 eggs have been counted,
instead of the millions that are usually laid.”
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
