The squid is shooting at the ocean. This is one level below the clown at the range that mag dumps. At least there's a target down range.
Now for the reality of what was happening.
The ship has a line item in their budget for ammo. If they don't continuously order ammo the item is removed from the budget. The Capt says that it's a moral booster for the squids to shoot up the ocean and a necessity for the ship. It's just an endless circle of taxpayers money being wasted.