Mbotyi Beach in the East Cape, some 106km from Port Shepstone, was littered with dead sardines on September 2.

Dead bait fish were also spotted out at sea.

While no further information was available from the Mbotyi Beach incident, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), confirmed that laboratory sequencing showed that pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) genetic material was present in samples of dead sardines and, at lower levels, in some apparently healthy sardines collected from the west coast.

Zolile Nqayi, the DFFE spokesperson, said scientists are also investigating whether an environmental stressor, such as harmful algae, low oxygen or unusual oceanographic conditions, may have triggered or intensified the event.

“This remains a hypothesis requiring further evidence. Tests for toxins in sardines collected off Saldanha Bay, the Cape Canyon and Gansbaai, together with an apparently healthy comparison sample from St Helena Bay, found no paralytic toxins associated with a harmful algal bloom in Saldanha Bay. Two other algal toxins, domoic acid and yessotoxin, were detected at low levels, with the highest levels found in the apparently healthy comparison sample. No other toxins included in the screening were detected,” said Nqayi.

The public is warned not to collect or consume dead or dying fish.

If you come across dead sardines or other fish washing up on beaches or rocks, DFFE requests that you count the fish, add a pin location, screenshot at start and end, provide an estimate of distance, and forward this information to greencoast@wessa.co.za

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