9 AM – Elysium for sardines today the 19 June 2023: sardines were netted here.
Search the shallows – this is your best strategy for today since we have warm and murky water. Exactly like yesterday…which is what happened at Umtentweni yesterday.
What a day! At the normally quiet little beach down on the KZN lower south coast – Umtentweni, a shoal of sardines lost their way in the dark of the moonless night. And when the sun came up, they were caught on the inside in the shallows. Where humans can get to them. Umtentweni often experiences this in the sardine run. And the grannies pool where people usually swim, is the perfect trap.
Yesterday’s action in video…
But it gets more interesting…
At the river mouth of the Umzimkulu, in Port Shepstone, a few clicks south of Umtentweni, there were guys catching sardines by hand there too. But on the inside of the bridge! The tide was rushing out at spring tide speed so it can only be deduced that there were sardines in the river overnight. They also must have got totally lost as they came around The Block, hugged the edge to keep cover from the predators, and swam right up the river! This also has happened before, many times.
Well, the water is still murky. And warm. With the Agulhas Current coming right in close yesterday, we are on 23 degrees. Perfect for swimming and surfing. But sardines like it way down at 19. Sharks do like this warm water by the way. Be careful out there!
So, with a powerful low tide in the mid-morning, more sardines are gonna get lost and find themselves in this hot water with sharks and people aplenty. If you are lucky enough to be out there, check the inside channels, pools and gulleys as the tide drains.
For a great overall perspective you can easily check out the interactive sardine and sightings map…updated constantly…right here…
You can install The Sardine News as an app on your phone (use the three little dot menu on your phone browser). And if you allow notifications, each time we update this page with a confirmed sighting, you will get a real sardine notification.
Right on your phone!
For when it’s quiet, in between sardine shoals – we have some cool YouTube Channels to keep you entertained and informed of all things sardines, ocean and conservation.
Surf Launching Southern Africa
Water Woes (best said in Afrikaans)
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