Heart of the Nation: Rye 3941
It’s not every day you see a picture of an octopus in a toilet, is it? But there’s more to this image than meets the eye...
It’s not every day you see a photo of an octopus in a toilet, is it? You may be tickled by the way this female is peeking out through its base, and thinking, Has she picked an awful spot to hang out in, or what? But in fact, there’s more to this shot than meets the eye. She has chosen this unlikely setting for the final act in the drama of her life – a swansong that is rather tragic, and wonderful, and poignant, all at the same time.
This image, from the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition, opening today at the South Australian Museum, was shot by dive guide Sam Glenn-Smith at one of his regular spots off the Mornington Peninsula. A few hundred metres from the end of Rye Pier, in 10m of water, a handful of old toilets and shopping trolleys lie in a clump on the seabed. What sounds like an awful case of marine fly-tipping is in fact an artificial reef – the handiwork of a local diver who wanted to create a sanctuary for underwater life. Toilet Reef, as it’s known, is only a couple of years old, but already it’s being colonised by seaweeds and soft corals, and used as a nursery by the five local species of octopus.
Octopus are semelparous animals – that’s to say, they reproduce once and then die. The female will find a suitable den in which to lay her eggs (a small cave, usually – but a toilet will do just fine) and from then on, she has but one purpose in life: to see those eggs through to hatching. She won’t eat, or leave the den, ever again; she’ll just slowly waste away over weeks as she guards the eggs, wafting water over them to keep them clean and aerated. And shortly after they hatch, her work done, the exhausted mother will die. “It’s a tough end to the life cycle, but also kind of beautiful,” says Glenn-Smith, 28. “This photo shows her bringing the next generation through.”