Tony did his first Scuba dive in 1963 and first dived with the giant cuttlefish in 1980 shortly after moving to Whyalla.

Since that time they’ve been through a lot together, including a fight for the survival of the species when over-fishing in the 90s almost wiped them out.

Tony said, in the beginning, divers in Whyalla didn’t really know what they were looking at with the cuttlefish.

“We didn’t think anything of it because it happened every year, we didn’t know it was unique.”

Now he has been a guide for thousands of people, and dozens of film crews and scientists from around the world who come to Whyalla to document this unique phenomenon.

The BBC has come here four times and the ABC, IMAX, National Geographic and film crews from France, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile have all filmed the aggregation.

According to Tony, scientists, filmmakers and divers consider the aggregation amazing because the spectacle lends itself to viewing and observation like no other.

“It’s absolutely guaranteed, what you’re going to see, absolutely guaranteed behaviour every day, every minute of every day.

“The cuttlefish completely ignore divers, even if they get within a metre of them.

“There is no substitute for seeing this first hand,” he said.

“We’ve got so much that is so special here.

“Their complex mating behaviour, aggression and hunting, the colours and camouflage, everything they do is there all the time and if you come here you are going to see it.”

Tony takes dozens of people to the Point Lowly cuttlefish viewing area every weekend in breeding season and he said he can see the potential for this unique feature to be a major tourism drawcard.

“The number of visitors now would be over a thousand (per season), obviously that’s built up from tens and then hundreds and now we’re talking about thousands of people coming here each year to see the cuttlefish,” he said.

“Three weeks ago there was 60 people out there on a Sunday afternoon.”

“So many people come to see the cuttlefish, and a growing number of people who have been here before and realise how easy it is to have that experience - they can experience one of the greatest marine spectacles on the planet.

“That’s not just my take on it, filmmakers, cinema photographers and some of the most eminent scientists in the world - that’s their take on it, it’s special.”