Category: Sightings

Sightings is a blog of marine life sightings up and down the southern African coastline. Sardines, dolphins, whales, turtles, gamefish etc…log the location, the species, the date and hopefully a photo or video too…anyone can play…!

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Video: Sardine Run 2017 – underwater whales and dolphins by Offshore Africa

Flying with Offshore Africa

Video: Sardine Run 2017 – underwater whales and dolphins by Offshore Africa

Video: Sardine Run 2017 – underwater whales and dolphins by Offshore Africa.

Check this daredevil underwater videography of cetaceans large and small, as they congregate for the annual sardine run.

The 2017 Sardine run has kicked off on schedule, with Offshore Africa bringing back and processing the world class video material shot by David Du Tigre – out at sea with Captain Rob Nettleton, just this week (early June 2017).

Offshore Africa have a few booking slots available for Sardine Run 2017. Going to sea with Rob and Debbie at this time of the year puts you in the game for all sorts of action. In amongst the patient whales and dolphins prowl the impatient sharks and gamefish. The bird flight is gathering force as they have been congregating in huge numbers – patrolling the coastline up and down, looking out for signs of sardines.

Read all about the action right here…

The Sardine Run – by Offshore Africa in Port St. Johns

and get in touch at this link…

Contact Offshore

Join and like Offshore Port St. Johns on Facebook…and get up-to-date posts as they happen…

https://www.facebook.com/offshoreafricaportstjohns/

Content by The Sardine News

Sardine Run 2017

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Book your sardines now!

Book your sardines now!

Sardines! Coming fast!

Offshore Africa, The Sardine specialists down in The Transkei, have already started taking bookings, for their Sardine Run experience.

Which is…jump right in with them, sharks and all!

Make no mistake, it’s a military type operation, and Rob Nettleton and Debbie Smith, partners in the show, take it very seriously. Their combined experience adds up to decades on, and under the ocean. Heaps of this time surrounded by dangerous marine animals. It is this experience that allows the totally mind-blowing trips out to sea off Port St. Johns to happen. Coupled with reliable, fast boats, and well-trained skippers…the exhilarating ride out through the surf and up and down the awe inspiring Wild Coast, will never be forgotten.

Right from the word go, the adrenalin starts pumping. Loading up, and prepping the powerful RIBs growl into life, as the winter induced offshore wind pumps down the stupendously beautiful Umzimvubu Valley. The next thing your heart is in your mouth, as you face the most hardcore ride of your life – through the surf at the Port St. Johns river mouth! And out to sea!

Flying with Offshore
Flying with Offshore – Rob Nettleton at the helm

The sardines are easily spotted by the birds they attract. Seagulls, Gannets, Albatross, Skuas, Terns…they are all highly aware of the bounty at large. And where the sardines are, that’s where the dolphins, whales, sharks, fish…are.

Jump right in!

Yip! The next thing you are surrounded my marine wildlife. The clear blue waters reveal all. The entire food chain! Staying out of the food chain is not that difficult really, sticking together provides the single biggest advantage – confidence. Just float there calmly and observe the carefully controlled mayhem, as predators who normally are averse to each other, start to work as a Springbok team. Those poor sardines!

Enjoy this gallery from the 2015 Sardine Run…

The sardines take a hammering from all kinds of marine wild life

There is more amazing imagery and video at this link…

http://offshoreportstjohns.com/?product=the-sardine-run-6-nights-5-days

 

Enjoy this cool video montage assembled from some of Rob and Debbies best footage, shot in and around Port St. Johns.

To get in touch with Offshore Africa…

http://offshoreportstjohns.com

https://web.facebook.com/offshoreafricaportstjohns/

 

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Huge Zambezi in Umzimkulu Mouth

Huge Zambezi in Umzimkulu Mouth

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Submitted by: Sean Lange

Report:

Huge Zambezi in Umzimkulu Mouth

For an hour or more, we watched as a huge Zambezi Shark patrolled the fast outflowing water of the Umzimkulu River this afternoon.
Speculation and hope is that the huge fish, one of a few sighted in the area lately, is here to give birth in the river!

A few years back we started running into Zambezi Sharks in the Umzimkulu River, at a cute little 5kg or size. Then they were 10kg’s. And last week Chris Lepan, local angling guru here in Port Shepstone, caught a 40kg estimated Zambezi – may just be the same family!

So now hopefully these big mommas are gonna come into the river tonight and give birth.

Let’s mark the date!

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SARDINES at Presleys Bay

SARDINES at Presleys Bay

There are confirmed SARDINES at Presleys Bay, down past Port St. Johns on the Transkei’s Wild Coast.
Sardine correspondent Robbie van Wijk reports that Presleys has been swamped by shoals and shoals of sardines.
Stay tuned for more information. Photos to follow…Thanks Robbie!!!
Presleys is not far from anywhere, those sardines could be literally at any beach in KZN by tomorrow morning!

Meow Gallery: The gallery is empty.

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Sardine Report from Port St. Johns

Sardine Report from Port St Johns

Debbie Smith of Offshore Africa is right in on the action down in the Transkei every day, and has kindly dropped us another Sardine Report from Port St Johns, this morning.

“Great Day. Loits of baitballs on the snorkel. Small red-eye sardines plentiful. Few birds but we had sharks and dolphins with us for 20 minutes. Then we had Manta Ray on two seperate sightings. Water temp a steady 20 degrees and viz a decent 6 to 8 metres.” – Debbie Smith

So it is all going according to plan. Sardines have in the past come out as early as May, but the water really has to drop below 19 degrees to create the ideal conditions.

The wild waves generated by the ongoing cold frontal invasion are also a pre-requisite for the sardines to come in close.

2016 Sardine report from Port St Johns
2016 Sardine report from Port St Johns – featuring dolphins, sharks and red-eyes – by Debbie Smith

 

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