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In the small bay of Babbacombe
in Devon, there is an animal that comes into the bay in the early
summer months to breed. We are talking about the common cuttlefish
(Sepia officinalis). These beautiful animals have probably been
coming bays like Babbacombe for thousands of years.In just six meters
of water you can see the large males going through their fantastic
courtship displays to woo the females. This a short insight into
the natural history of these fascinating animals.
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But all isn’t well in these small bays, over the last few
years there has been a rise of the pot fishermen who have refined
their techniques to such an extent that the breeding population
could be wiped out within years. These fisherman are operating totally
within the law. as yet there is no E.U. management plan for these
beautiful inshore animals. |
The cuttlefish is just one
of the animals in the class of cephalopods, which is p[art of the
large mollusc phylum, the class has been around since the Cambrian
period, more than 500 million years ago. The class also includes
the octopus,squids and the nautilus. the abundance and number of
these fossil species makes the cephalopods an extremely important
group of fossils.
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