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Tofo Oceanfest 2018 at Fatima’s Nest!

Tofo Oceanfest 2018 at Fatima’s Nest!

Tofo Oceanfest 2018: It’s ON again at Fatima’s Nest in Tofo, Inhambane, Southern Mozambique this 2018!

Tofo Oceanfest 2018
Tofo Oceanfest 2018

Tofo is most definitely the most happening New Year’s celebration!

Right on the beach, with years and years of celebrations behind this Tofo Oceanfest 2018, once again – Fatima’s is going to absolutely rock you into the New Year.

Daily activities and a music programme will keep you entertained all day long.

Volleyball, surf lessons, yoga and beach football will make sure!

With the beach right out front, Fatima’s hosts the Tofo Oceanfest 2018 each year, which culminates in the biggest New Year’s event. That goes to the sunrise every time! Guest DJs and local outfits blend together to create the right mood for the right time, every time!

See you there!

About Tofo…

Tofo is the nicest little surf/fishing/diving village, right on the beach at Praia do Tofo.

The surfing in the bay is ideal for beginners. The point around the corner for when you’ve learned a bit!

Fishing is fantastic, this time of the year. Get in touch on umzimkulu@gmail.com for more information.

And the diving…well it’s acclaimed to be amongst the best spots worldwide. For Manta Rays, Whale Sharks and Turtles.

The Inhambane Bay is huge and waiting for you to explore it’s magical and calm waters. You can hook up a dhow cruise right from the bar at Fatima’s. Seahorses and the rare dugong are first prizes on these trips. Backed up by Flamingoes, dolphins and all sorts, in and around the islands and channels. Fantastic snorkeling, beach combing (for the famous Panzy Shell/Sand Dollar) and visiting the remote but cool restaurants and resorts over at Linga Linga make up a really full day trip.

All these activities can be arranged right at the reception at Fatimas.

Or contact Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com…or WhatsApp +27 79 326 9671 anytime!

You can also browse through the menu item Trips and Travel above or follow this link: https://thesardine.co.za/product-category/fishing-experiences/

And easily keep up with the news and our seasonal offerings by staying on top of The Sardine News’ various channels…YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

Tofo Oceanfest 2018 at Fatima's Nest in Tofo, Inhambane
Tofo Oceanfest 2018 at Fatima’s Nest in Tofo, Inhambane
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Crowds hitting Jbay for the Winterfest 2018

Jordy Smith representing this year at the JBay Winterfest 2018

Crowds hitting Jbay for the Winterfest 2018

Jeffreys Bay, South Africa – The 6th edition of the JBay Winterfest opened today, with the waiting period of the Corona Open JBay officially starting this morning. All the top Championship Tour (CT) surfers are in town, and expectations are high for a great event.

South Africa is well represented in this year’s edition of the Corona Open JBay, with both Jordy Smith and Mikey February representing as CT surfers, with local surfer Matt McGillivray in the event as a wildcard, along with former CT surfer Bianca Buitendag in as the wildcard in the women’s event.

“This is one of the few events that I’m able to surf in front of my friends and family, so I’m doing it for them,” said Jordy Smith of the upcoming event. “They don’t get to travel and see what my life looks like on a day to day basis. I just want to show them my love and what this is all about.”

The forecast is looking very promising for an excellent run of surf, starting to filter through this afternoon (Monday 2nd) and pouring through for the period Tuesday 3rd – Thursday 5th, with surf in the four to six-foot range in the forecast. For now, the contest is on, with fun three-foot sets starting off the day. Updates can be found on the World Surf League website,  and the webcast can be found on the WSL Facebook page. 

Corona Sunset Sessions

As part of the Corona Open JBay there will also be the free music sessions – the Corona Sunset Sessions – at the contest site on Pepper Street. Thursday 05 July will see Sean Koch and Sunset Sweatshop performing; on Friday 06 July it’ll be Rubber Duc and Money for Bali, while Saturday 07 July will feature Desmond & The Tutus and Nic Preen & The World of Birds. All shows are free of charge, so come down and enjoy the vibes.

JBay Winterfest 2018
JBay Winterfest 2018

Money for Bali

 

Funduro  – 7 July

On Saturday 7 July Slake Adventures will be hosting their fifth Funduro, hosted by the JBay Winterfest.

This is a Fun Ride and that no competitor licenses or club memberships are needed. Riders of all levels, together with family and friends are welcome. The event will take place at Seaview Vlakte, just above the Mondplaas petrol garage on the R102.

The loop consists of 15 km single track and is measured as easy-to-medium in difficulty. The terrain will consist of both flat and technical riding. The new unridden terrain will be super fun with some surprises on the way!

JBay Winterfest 2018
JBay Winterfest 2018

Funduro action © Kody McGregor

Cold Water Swim Classic – 8 July

The Coldwater Swim Classic takes place in the saltwater canals of Marina Martinique on 8 July. This swim features sub-15 C water, icy air temperatures. The Marina is renowned world wide as an open water swim venue, and the Swim Classic has been promoted to be an official Robben Island qualifying event. There are three distances on offer during the JBay Winterfest – a Mile, Double Mile and a grueling Triple Mile. All races start at 9:30am.

High resolution images from all events are available for media outlets on request – info@craigjarvis.co.za

Oakley, Kouga Municipality, Island Tribe and Bioplus proudly sponsor the JBay Winterfest.

The festival is anchored by the Corona Open JBay, and there is the JBay Windfarm MTB Classic event, the Cold Water Classic open water swim, the Endurade JBayX Trail Run, the Fishing Skins Tournament and the JBay Winterfest Funduro. More information can be found on the JBay Winterfest website.

The event hash tag is #jbaywinterfest

The JBay Winterfest social media channels:

Website: www.jbaywinterfest.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jbaywinterfest????

Instagram: @jbaywinterfest

For JBay Winterfest information contact

Koffie Jacobs

e.koffie@silverbullet.co.za

Media enquiries:

Craig Jarvis

e. info@craigjarvis.co.za

t. 082 376 4443

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Shaun Tomson Surfs into SA Hall of Fame

Shaun Tomson from South Africa - new inductee into the South African Hall of Fame, ripping JBay the way we all know him

Shaun Tomson Surfs into SA Hall of Fame

By Olivia Jones Communications. Ballito, KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal. Shaun Tomson rode the crest of his career wave earlier this week, when he was honoured with an induction into the elite South African Hall of Fame, the highest accolade that any South African sports person or performing artist can receive.

Listed among the top ten surfers of the century, the former Durbanite was the 1977 World Surfing Champion and six times winner of the Gunston 500 in Durban. Apart from surfing, Shaun Tomson is also a renowned author, businessman, environmentalist and motivational speaker.

The South African Hall of Fame celebrates great achievements by extraordinary South Africans excelling in their field, who inspire and empower the youth to holistically reach their full potential. An individual’s integrity, sportsmanship and character are also taken into account.

“The surfboard became a mere vehicle for an incredible human being, Shaun Tomson, to epitomise his passion and perseverance, and then he returned to create a message of hope,” said Johnny Burger, Chairman of the South African Hall of Fame.

“We firmly believe that character supersedes talent and that one human being, no matter how big or small can make an enormous impact. The biggest sporting legend that has ever walked South Africa, besides Gary Player, is Shaun Tomson. We honour you, we respect you and we thank you for leaving something bigger and longer-lasting behind, than just yourself, and that is a true legacy,” said Burger, before handing Tomson his accolade.

On accepting his newest award, Tomson, now California based, said “I am so humbled and so honoured to receive this award from my homeland. I know that I am going to do my homeland proud and spend more time here. What you will, you will become!”

Tomson’s powerful words of inspiration come from his book The Code: The Power of I Will, where he illustrates how people, especially the youth can change their lives in just twelve steps, each beginning with “I will…”.

Shaun Tomson has spent the past few weeks motivating local schools and organisations through the Positive Wave Tour as part of the 50th edition of the world’s longest running professional surfing event, the Ballito Pro presented by Billabong in KwaZulu-Natal

Such is his affinity with the local youth that it has earned him the affectionate nickname ‘Baba Tom’. Wiseman Cele, Manager of New Development for KwaDukuza Municipality said, “The youth that Shaun has interacted with in the last few days have been so greatly impacted by his friendliness, positive energy and accommodative manner, that they started referring to him as Baba Tom. He has become like a father-figure to them.”

“Alchemy is the transference of metals from one state to another  which occurs through heat or pressure. Shaun Tomson has to be celebrated not for his achievements, but for his ability to transfer his own pain and transcend every single negative thing that has happened to him to become the person that he is today, an alchemist,” said former South African Champion surfer Greg Swart.

Tomson recently spent an afternoon with Dr. Albertina Luthuli, daughter of anti-apartheid struggle icon, Nkosi Albert Luthuli, where the two philanthropists shared their sentiments on racism, sports, politics and their common love, South Africa.

Tomson’s visit to South Africa culminates with him spending 67-minutes at the Lethithemba Secondary School for the centenary celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s birthday on 18 July #LiveTheLegacy.

Former World Surfing Champion, Shaun Tomson, receives his South African Hall of Fame award from Eugene Lewis (CEO, SA Hall of Fame, pictured left) and Johnny Burger (Chairman, SA Hall of Fame). Tomson, who was crowned World champion in 1977, was decorated with the highest honour for a South African sports person at the Coco de Mer Luxury Boutique Hotel in Ballito on Wednesday evening, June 27, 2018. Picture: Pierre Tostee
Former World Surfing Champion, Shaun Tomson, receives his South African Hall of Fame award from Eugene Lewis (CEO, SA Hall of Fame, pictured left) and Johnny Burger (Chairman, SA Hall of Fame). Tomson, who was crowned World champion in 1977, was decorated with the highest honour for a South African sports person at the Coco de Mer Luxury Boutique Hotel in Ballito on Wednesday evening, June 27, 2018. Picture: Pierre Tostee
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It’s totally wild down there as GoFish blows it up!

Gofish Cam

It’s totally wild down there as GoFish blows it up!

Gofish Cameras. Totally wild.

When we first reviewed a bunch of underwater recordings shot with GoFish trolling cameras – of fish attack behaviour, that we made out off of the Bazaruto Centre for Scientific Studies recently – some crazy sounds came booming from out of the studio.

More and more gasps and exclamations, hoots and howls from the reviewer – until he crescendoed with an almighty bellow, “COME AND SEE THIS!”

Bull shark on a Mydo trace
Bull shark on a Mydo trace

Myself and Callum Roberts (visiting shark scientist and the reason for us targeting Zambezi Sharks as he completes some serious scientific research work at the BCSS) bounded into his office, only to be exposed to the most eye-widening imagery ever seen by either of us. Mainly Zambezis – the particular troublesome species we have been targeting for spatial monitoring and movement tagging.

But also King Mackerel – reckless and lethal as they were hunting in packs – they operate together. Amazing to see. Even the big ones. And when your livebait starts to panic like it would after a few minutes in these waters, make no mistake your bait is being stalked and charged from all angles. What was amazing is that they turn away so often. It’s about one in ten charges – that the ‘couta actually hits the bait. The pack seems to goad one of them into eventually taking on strike duty. And they all hang around and share the spoils after the striker gets the bait off the trace! Which happened surprisingly often.

The Zambezi’s were the same, as in there was never only one of them. Up to six at a time were recorded happily sitting barely two metres below the propellers, easily keeping pace with us as we dragged a dredge and a bunch of lures around behind us, at quite some speed. Obviously, as we had a strike, it was barely a few seconds and a shark would climb on.

The Cobia acted the same. And often swam with the sharks. In amongst them. Huge fish.

As did the Talang Queenfish we were lucky enough to film off of Paradise Island. We scored an unlucky flying fish that flew onto the boat. About 5 inches long. The trace we had was too heavy for starters, but a bunch of queenfish came in and inspected, mock charged, turning away every time. A custom trace with light nylon would have gotten that strike. But we did get one on spoon, which may show a relationship between strike rate and live baits in the water.

A beautiful Talang Queenfish from the waters near Paradise .Island. Released
A beautiful Talang Queenfish from the waters near Paradise .Island. Released

Yellowfin Tuna, at these initial stages of fish behaviour analyses, have been the most wary and sensible. The bonito and skipjack footage that we recorded in our wake following us – unbelievable. Like an over-stocked aquarium, there were fish everywhere, and going in all directions!

This particular application of video technology to our favorite past time of fishing has potential to completely shift the way we see and treat the ocean and it’s fish. It was far more of a thrill seeing what had happened as recorded and reviewed through the day than actually catching and fighting the fish.

The following video was compiled to study the king mackerel as they come in hot and fast onto the target. You will see that they definitely come in from the flank or rear, and that they go for the tail first. In this clip, one couta actually removes the tail completely with a lightning-fast strike. And then another of the three featuring king mackerel comes in and takes the bait right off the trace. But he hooks himself. And then, in a flash, he just shakes the trace free. All we could see from the boat, was a few dips on the rod tip. The fish never even took drag, since they were coming in for the strike in the general direction of the boat ie towards us! And for sure the camera was always deployed on a real stiff big gun. Tackle just too much for them. We lost quite a few cameras in the end. Sharks and other beeeeg fish we will never know about.

But basically, without the GoFish camera, we would have experienced none of the thrilling wildlife action going on barely a few metres behind the boat. It really has made an effect on us as we now are using this information to make new sfyle traces. But more about that in another article.

All the imagery we attained on our last three weeks of shooting underwater with GoFish cams, has been processed into data and video and is studies. Some of which you can see online at the following links:

From BCSS and WildBlue Expeditions:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=BCSSMZ

You can study predator fish attack behaviour yourself by viewing these files, or by getting ahold of your own GoFish camera or two, at the following link:

GOFISH Cam available online right here!

GoFish cameras available at this link
GoFish cameras available at this link…https://gofishcam.com?rfsn=1302571.0dcdd

Link

We are on Facebook at http://facebook.com/thesardine.co.za/

We run a YouTube channel that features a bunch of GoFish camera footage and action. Right here!

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Everyone is welcome to celebrate clean beaches and ocean conservation at Shark Weekend

Stop Shark Finning at Shark Weekend Scottburgh 8 to 10 June 2019

Everyone is welcome to celebrate clean beaches and ocean conservation at Shark Weekend

Scottburgh 8 to 10 June 2018

The annual Paddle Out for Sharks (POFS) and World Ocean’s Day (WOD) events will culminate in the 2018 Shark Weekend – a full programme of talks, clean ups, surfing competitions and beach activities geared towards marine conservation running at Scottburgh from 8 to 10 June.

Shark Weekend has a number of interactive activities planned suited to the whole family. The full programme starts at Scottburgh Beach at 3pm on Friday, 8 June with a ‘Healthy Ocean’s Talk’ and beach clean-up. The conservation celebration continues on Saturday, 9 June from8am with a Paddle Out for Sharks ceremony at Scottburgh Beach and Backline. There will be a number of beachside activities including a treasure hunt, sand shark art, snorkelling lessons, as well as adaptive surfing demonstrations and surfing competitions.

Throughout the weekend, Scottburgh’s Premier Resort Cutty Sark will play host to a number of Shark Weekend activities including Aliwal Shoal’s Shark Photo Exhibition, the Mares Dive Gear Exhibition as well as Conservation Talks and Videos. In addition to the generous venue donation, Premier Resort Cutty Sark is running a weekend special room rate of R350 per person, per night.“The 7th Paddle Out for Sharks, in conjunction with Word Ocean’s Day on 8 June, gives us a chance to highlight the impact of human actions and how we can positively turn the tide for shark conservation and good health of our oceans,” said Shark Weekend organiser, marine biologist, shark researcher and member of Shark Angels, Jess Escobar.

“For me, the annual Paddle Out for Sharks celebration has become an opportunity for all different ocean-users to stand together and show their support for shark and ocean conservation. It is reaching more and more people every year, converting the misguided fear around sharks into a respect and willingness to protect them. I am so happy and excited to see such a great support for our sharks and ocean conservation in our area.”

Paddle Out for Sharks started in 2012 after several sharks were killed in nets along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The diving and marine conservation communities converged to protest against the nets in support of shark conservation. This tradition has continued every year with more voices calling for protection of sharks, an animal which forms a crucial part of the oceanic ecosystem.

Forming an integral part of the Shark Weekend programme will be an address by renowned ocean activist and founder of the NPC, Breathe, Sarah Ferguson, on Saturday, 9 June at 3pm.The former national swimmer took to ocean swimming six years ago and decided to do something more meaningful with her swimming.

“I decided to start a foundation centred on ocean conservation, so I established Breathe,” recalled Ferguson. “I then started training to become the first African woman to swim the Kaiwi channel in Hawaii which I successfully completed in July 2017.”

Her 30-minute talk, entitled ‘Swimming to Fight Plastic Pollution – Live Deeply & Tread Lightly’ outlines her passion of swimming and the global epidemic of plastic pollution.

“We cannot ignore this issue,” said Ferguson. “They recently found a plastic bag at the bottom of the Mariana Trench – the deepest part of the ocean. Education is critical to change behaviour and create awareness about this relevant and growing epidemic. Change starts with the individual and needs to come from the public as well as at government level. Together, we can all change the statistic that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.”

Special thanks are extended to all Shark Weekend sponsors, including Premier Resort Cutty Sark, Scuba Xcursion, Mares, Pollywog, Blue Wilderness and Made for More.

Post by Olivia Jones Communications

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