'Unpredictable' sardines may be swimming their way to KwaZulu-Natal

The sardines may be on their way to KwaZulu-Natal.

KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board acting head of operations Greg Thompson said on Friday the activity along the Eastern Cape coastline was an indication that sardines could appear soon. However, the tiny fish are known to be unpredictable.

A sardine observation flight was conducted on Thursday.

“From Virginia to Port Edward, all is still fairly quiet, apart from a few bottlenose and a few scattered gannets. The water visibility is still discoloured in many areas, which does hamper spotting,” Thompson said.

“The area between Mzamba and Grosvenor was also quiet, but as we got to Lupatana there were two groups of common dolphin about 1km off shore, charging north. Each group consisted of about 400 animals. The Waterfall Bluff area was also quiet with just a few gannets scattered in the area.

“When we got to Mbotyi, we started seeing the first signs of sardine-related activity with about 600 common dolphin spread out in small groups all the way through to Poenskop, just north of Port St Johns. Here we came across a moderate to fresh off-shore cross-wind that made it extremely difficult to spot activity.

“The water visibility had started to improve just north of Port St Johns and as we headed towards Umngazana the sardine-related activity started to increase, along with numerous groups of common and bottlenose dolphin.

“Then off Rame Head we had in excess of 15 shoals of sardines all accompanied by dolphin.

“The activity continued off Hluleka, where we had scattered pockets as well as two very large shoals of sardines with shark activity. Here there was a huge pod of about 1,000 common dolphin feeding. This activity stretched from the backline to as far as you could see off-shore.

“We turned at Hole in the Wall and there was still activity for as far south as you could see. The last stretch was very active and the visibility was very good.”

Thompson said these indications were “all positive that the sardines are making their way up from the Eastern Cape towards KwaZulu-Natal”.

“Taking into consideration that most of last week’s activity was much further south than today’s [Thursday] flight, it seems there has already been a considerable surge north.

“There is a possibility that the predicted cold front for this weekend is pretty well timed. A cold front can often enhance the movements of the shoals and cause them to move inshore and north at a rapid pace.

“However, there have been many occasions in the past when predictions and opinions have been totally incorrect. These fish can move through in the deep or in the discoloured water we are experiencing at the moment, out of sight of most of the predators and arrive in KZN without warning. Then there is always the possibility that they continue moving north on the deeper line and we don’t get to see them at all.”

Every winter‚ most often in June or July‚ millions of sardines leave the cold waters off Cape Point and make their way up the coast to KwaZulu-Natal.

Each year holiday-makers flock to the province to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, which is dubbed “the Greatest Shoal on Earth” and includes sharks‚ birds and dolphins in a feeding frenzy as they prey on the sardines.

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