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MayDay Report by Alan at The Block

Alan at The Block 1 May 2025

MayDay Report by Alan at The Block

MayDay Report by Alan at The Block: HAPPY MAYDAY! The first day of May is filled with promise as a big south-west cold front is dropping the barometer hard right now. The BIG blow we expect could come at any time and Robbie down in Coffee Bay reckons yesterday was wild and wooly as it gets. Gale force gusts and pouring rain to boot.

Over to Alan in the calm before the storm…down the coast in Port Shepstone.

“Guys at The Block again
water colours not bad hey
not bad but there’s no fish coming out at the moment
all the fish and more fish and more fish and more
believe
the bit of a swirling action going on in the water
so I’m not sure but anyway
starting to improve
it’s really looking a little bit better
we’ll see what happens
there should be some snappers around one of these days
and maybe a shed or two enjoy your day
a few moments later..”

Thanks Alan!

Sardines and Sightings

Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube, giving all these perks

Member of WhatsApp Sardine News HOTLINE, access to restricted content on thesardine.co.za, LIVE from the Beach and direct contact with the Sardine Spy network.

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map too. This is a real groovy way to follow the progress of the sardines each year.

And download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Here are the links to existing and past  Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – log your municipalities transgressions here

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GoDive Following The Sardines to Cintsa Today

Following the Sardines Big SW Coming

GoDive Following The Sardines to Cintsa Today

GoDive Following The Sardines to Cintsa Today: the sardines are on the move. They are still busy congregating and as we move north, tighter and tighter shoals and baitballs will form. As the predators line up and set their ambush strategies. Lotsa co-operation between the sharks, dolphins and gannets as these main players jockey and jostle the sardines into order.

Over to GoDive Dive Master checking in with Elton…following the sardines today…

“How’s it Elton
um so winds picking up today
um I don’t think we’re gonna
gonna launch today um
so we’ll be doing uh
wheel bearings brakes
everything get the cars and trailers
uh ready for
for Cintsa um yeah
it was it was a lekka PE trip
but uh
just wish we had some stable bait balls
um yeah
sardines were quite scattered um
I think going up to Cintsa is gonna be a good idea
have them funneled funneled into a smaller search
area that would help a lot as well um
but yeah we had some brydes whales uh
humpback dolphins uh
common dolphins bottlenose dolphins and uh
actually first time that I’ve ever seen uh
two pilot whales um
so we’ve spoken to the other guys around here
sometimes they they do come into the into the bay um
so yeah my first time um and I’m pretty sure quite of a
quite a few of our clients
first time ever seeing one as well um
so yeah that was quite awesome but I do think uh
since it’s gonna be a bit better um
just hoping for some
some stable bait balls that stay inside instead of the
the kind of scattered deeper sardines
so just a quick update thanks man”

Thanks for the update, team, and we are so looking forward to hearing about your first dive in the Cintsa area!

Following the Sardines this 2025 with GoDive

First Garrick of the 2025 Season!

And we got our first Garrick of the season
I’m pretty sure you get them before April
and I’ve shot them in February by mistake once
but the main thing is this is the beginning
April the 30th
it’s a lovely Garrick caught at Port Edward Splash Rock
I think Port Edward Splash Rock
that’s what the source told me
and I haven’t got a name
but it was definitely today
so gear up it’s on
it’s on there are sardines at Cintsa
it’s all happening don’t forget to like and subscribe
and check out the membership offer
join the hotline Ciao Ciao

Sardines and Sightings

Join the Sardine News HOTLINE for 2025 and Neva Miss a Single Sardine!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN as a Member on YouTube, giving all these perks including the HOTLINE and direct contact with the Sardine Spy network.

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map! Download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Here are the links to existing and past  Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – log your municipalities transgressions here

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Humpback Whales in Durban Already for Sardine Run 2025

Humpback Whales in Durban Already 28 April 2025

Humpback Whales in Durban Already for Sardine Run 2025

Humpback Whales in Durban Already for Sardine Run 2025: after all the excitement of the Durban Skiboat Club Festival, we then had a brace of humpback whales enter the fray.

The following diagram I got whilst working with the erstwhile Dr. Oz Goffman, as he maps out the family trees and DNA sequences of these mighty ocean roamers. As you can see, there are distinct separate populations hanging down south. Dr. Oz knows most of these guys by name, and he has been tailing them around the southern and Indian oceans for decades.

What you can deduce from this diagram and its relevance today is that these whales do not necessarily have to go to Hermanus first to start their migration up north to Mozambique and Madagascar. Nope, they can hit the coast anywhere, coming in at a square ninety degrees to the coast.

Interestingly, Durban got them first this year! They must have been reading that Sardine News and getting way too excited way too early in the game!

Humpback Whales arriving Durban very early this 2025
Humpback Whales arriving Durban very early this 2025
Durban Sunrise in April with Cold Front Clouds Looming as the Ocean Recovers
Durban Sunrise in April with Cold Front Clouds Looming as the Ocean Recovers
Humpback Whales in Durban
Humpback Whales in Durban

These whales are on a migration up this way to give birth and nurture their young in the safety of the bland tropical waters as opposed to the predator-filled southern oceans where they normally hang out. Adults teaching their whale pups to smash the water with their fins and tails can be observed through the delightful wintertime time that the humpbacks are here for.

But they also eat sardines! Read all about that right here. Or watch the movie right here…featuring sardine aficionado Kevin Touhy right on the sardine scene down in the deep Transkei Wild Coast. Get in touch with Kevin to check in to his lovely cottages and rondavels over this coming sardine season. I am heading down there soon too!

Sardines and Sightings

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map! Download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Here are the links to existing and past  Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – log your municipalities transgressions here

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Here is the WINNING Fish for DSBC Festival 2025

Gareth Brocket 29kg Winning Fish DSBC Festival

Here is the WINNING Fish for DSBC Festival 2025

Here is the WINNING Fish for DSBC Festival 2025: and it’s a wrap! The well attended festival once again produced the fish and a 29 kg couta by Gareth Brockett took top honour and the boat!

Winner Gareth Brockett with his almost 30kg croc couta!

27th of April 2025

And it’s the final day of the Durban Skiboat Club
Festival competition
Durban Each year very cool event
I’ve fished it a few times
I never came anywhere
anyway first prize over half a million
not exactly sure of the details
but I’ll put them on the screen here when I find them
cool hey
so who’s gonna win well
I don’t know because I put this video together now
and we’ll get the results later
and then I’ll stick them in
and then we’ll publish the video
then you’ll know who won so in the meantime
all I got for you is day 1
beautiful Natal winter unbelievable conditions
just pure off shores blowing
just the most beautiful scene
thank you Adam Kamdar
for capturing this so nicely and creatively l
like you did anyway
the only challenge was really the water
tainted with that runoff from the floods
from the days before little bit of brown going in there
all manners of other things too
but the brown is the problem
but some boats took up the challenge
and found the water and they found a fish
some big fish weighed well
I saw one particularly nice fish
alright day 2 today wow
Natal in winter
you just can’t beat it when it plays the game
we’re not quite in winter yet
but April’s always got a bad reputation for rain
don’t plan your holidays in April
go in may rather May is the best month around here
but yeah day 2
equally lush and once again
Adam captured the the
the scene so beautifully from his vantage point
but now we wait until this afternoon or this evening
whenever it is when they announce the winner
then I’ll put the winner’s name in here
and hopefully a picture and we will have the results
in the meantime thanks for watching

Ahah and the winner is…

Gareth Brockett

okay don’t forget to like and subscribe
maybe join the channel
if you want to know everything about the sardines
but lekker thank you for watching Ciao Ciao

DSBC Festival 2025 Winner Gareth Brockett
DSBC Festival 2025 Winner Gareth Brockett

Sardines and Sightings

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map! Download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Here are the links to existing and past  Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – log your municipalities transgressions here

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More Rain On The Way #kzn #ocean #conditions #update

More Rain on the Way 23 April 2025

More Rain On The Way #kzn #ocean #conditions #update

More Rain On The Way #kzn #ocean #conditions #update: Check it out. We posted an update on YouTube this morning.

23 April 2025 in da Morning

Thanks to Adam of Township Hyper, we have been getting some great video material to work with each morning. The timelapses and surfing/kayaking/swimming action all combined tell you exactly when to go to the beach. Now! This is April and you ought to to make the most of each day that it isn’t raining!

And we got one out yesterday too.

22 April 2025 Easter Weekend Roundup

This one even has some pukka sardine news as we check some amazing animations from Windy.com that relate t the annual sardine migration.

There is also some biggish wave surfing, shot by Adam in the Crows Nest in Durban.

If anybody has not heard, we have started our Sardine News HOTLINE for the 2025 season. Entry is easy. All you need to do is Join our YouTube Channel at R59 bucks a month and we will add to to the central nerve system of the Sardine News.

Our YouTube Channel is right here…

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine!

This HOTLINE is also where we will publish first each day of the Sardine Run 2025. This is mainly due to logistics. Since the uploading of these HD takes so much time and bandwidth.

So we upload to the Members section on YouTube and announce that in the HOTLINE. Then we can start the other uploads to Facebook and the rest of them…which means that if you JOIN the channel, you will FIRST by FAR!

Sardines and Sightings

Check out our annual Sardine Run Map! Download our app to your phone or device, accept notifications, and you will never miss a single sardine.

Here are the links to existing and past  Sardine Sighting Maps…

2025 Sardine Map

2024 Sardine Map

2023 Sardine Map

2022 Sardine Map

2021 Sardine Map

Channels

Brucifire Surf Retorts – highly entertaining  surf reporting

Master Watermen – news from way down deep

The Sardine News – neva miss a single  sardine

FishBazaruto – 1000 pounds plus

MYDO Tackle Talk – highly technical  sport fishing

Surf Launching Southern Africa – getting out there safely

Water Woes – log your municipalities transgressions here

Share