Watch: Sardines on the run… again
The sardine run – known as the ‘greatest shoal on Earth’ – is just around the corner.
Dive into one of nature’s wildest shows – the sardine run.
Each winter, southern KZN’s coastline transforms into a swirling silver spectacle as millions of sardines flood the ocean, with hungry predators in hot pursuit, turning the sea into a feeding frenzy.
According to the KZN Sharks Board, although the great bulk of South Africa’s sardine stock is found in the cooler Cape waters, each winter a small proportion of the stock moves eastwards up the Wild Coast.
These shoals take advantage of cool water on the continental shelf of the east coast that occurs seasonally as a narrow band between the coast and the warm, southward flowing Agulhas Current.
“Word gets out and, within hours, crowds of frenzied human predators converge on the area to join sharks, gamefish, marine mammals and birds in a feeding frenzy.”
The KZN Sharks Board says it’s not clear what advantage the sardines gain by entering KZN waters.
“On the contrary, local waters are less food-rich than are Cape waters, the favourable cooler conditions are only temporary, and to make matters worse for the sardines, they are accompanied by many predators which prey on them heavily. Because the fish become concentrated near the surface in a narrow inshore band of water, the shoals are quickly located by predators that are whipped into a frenzy by this brief period of plenty in these otherwise less productive waters.
“Sharks, such as the copper, dusky, blacktip and spinner, join gamefish such as shad, garrick and geelbek, and marine mammals like Cape fur seals and dolphins in hot pursuit of the shimmering mass of sardines, or each other. As the shoals are driven to the surface, birds – Cape gannets, cormorants, terns and gulls – plummet out of the sky to pillage from above. The appearance of common dolphins along the KZN south coast is closely associated with the arrival of the sardine run, and it has even been suggested that the female dolphins use the plentiful food supply to wean their calves and replenish their depleted fat stores.”
Watch some amazing footage from last year’s sardine run:
@asfnfishing Some recent Sardine Action at Port st Johns!!! Full Sardine Run update Video on Youtube now!!! #sardinerun #sardinerun2024 #Sardines #fishinglife #fishing #psj #SAMA28 #fishinglife
@thesardinenews 9AM Sardine News 18 June 2024 Port Edward hosting massive #Shoal of #Sardines #sardinerun2024 #sardine #run #2024
Video: Brad Isaacson/Offshore Africa Port St Johns/Facebook
Video: Offshore Africa Port St Johns/Facebook
