A few years ago I filmed some really interesting goings on in shallow water off Dingle Bay in Ireland - the bobtail squid, Sepiola atlantica, sometimes called the little cuttle though I don't think it has a cuttle bone. This short film is of it in its real environment - you don't so often see them filmed in the wild and not in the context of the predatory world in which it has to live. It shows it hiding in the sand and ever alert to threats but also - and this is hard to judge - it seemed inquisitive as to who or what I was. You can't be sure of what is going on in an animal's head but in the four or so hours I spent with them I sensed something intelligent and unusual - am I imagining it?!! Perhaps it was just because I was lighting up food or mates that they sometimes came to camera? They certainly are making decisions about when to stay and when to flee which suggests a high level of intelligence (see the bit where one buries itself and then the bit near the end where it exits fast from the burial position realising it has been spotted perhaps). Here is the link:
- Enjoy!