Welcome to the Marine Mili series, a regular column about all things marine! During this series I aim to inspire people to want to protect our oceans and all the marine life that call our oceans home. Hopefully after reading each column, you would have learnt something new including what we can do to help protect and preserve our oceans. You can follow me and my journey on my Instagram page: _marine_mili.

The Giant Australian Cuttlefish is a species of cephalopod, closely related to squid and octopus.

This species is the largest species of cuttlefish in the world and can grow to weigh an impressive 10.5 kilograms, and they can reach up to one metre in length.

The Giant Australian Cuttlefish are masters of camouflage as they can quickly change their appearance in many ways. To help blend into their surroundings to stay safe from predators, they are able to change their colours, patterns and even the texture of their bodies. Changing these things will provide instant camouflage with whatever is around the cuttlefish, whether it be seaweed, rocks or even the sand.

When I say that these changing abilities provide the cuttlefish with instant camouflage, I really mean almost instantly; they can change in less than one second which is as fast as you could blink.

There are many reasons the Giant Australian Cuttlefish would use their colour changing trick. While the main reason is to stay safe from any potential predators it also helps them attract mates. Cuttlefish can communicate with other cuttlefish with their colour changing ability, and it's how they attract mates.  It is also used to stun and mesmorise their prey. They will put on a show for their prey of all sorts of colours and patterns that change continuously which confuses the prey and overwhelms them.  The cuttlefish's main diet consists of a large variety of different fish and crustaceans; however, they do feed on other creatures including molluscs.

We are lucky enough in Victoria to have these beautiful masters of camouflage living beneath the waves. So next time you are out for a snorkel or a dive, keep an eye out for an incredible Giant Australian Cuttlefish.