Sepia in the Oosterschelde, The Netherlands

Ok, I admit, The Netherlands is not on my list for favorite dive sites.
The visibility can be very bad and the water very cold. There is nothing spectacular to see in my opinion.

But in may, I am in the water.
Not only the water temperature rises, also the body temperature of the divers rised.

As the water temperture is reaching 12 degrees, the cuttlefish or sepias will leave the Northsea and come to the Oosterschelde for mating.
They returned to the place they were born.
From the moment, the first sepia is spotted, the dive sites are crowded with divers.

Once arrived in the Oostershelde, the males start looking for a suitable partner. As they formed a pair, they can start mating.

After fertilization, the male remains in very close contact with the female to chase rivals.
Together they look for substrates where the female can deposit her eggs on the sticks.

Deposit the eggs.

Shortly after this she will die. Some male will survive and go back to the North Sea to come back next year for mating again.

After 8 weeks the young sepias come out and stay for a while in the Oosterschelde.
Once the cuttlefish are large enough, they will swim back to the North Sea to come back next year.

Before I started diving, I never heard about cuttlefish in The Netherlands. Now I am glad to see them every year and share this information with you.

I can't wait until may, to see them again.