Sunny Skies and Bluebottle Alert for KZN
Sunny Skies and Bluebottle Alert for KZN: Adam kindly alerts us to the ever-painful bluebottle sting. This occurs when there are extended east wind blows. This is the second day of a relentless onshore ‘Beasterly Easterly.’ It steers the sailing stingers to KZN and surrounding waters. This wind also causes an upwelling of cold water to rise to the surface. And has an adverse affect on seaweed which it seems to amass on the shore.
Bluebottle Alert
Bluebottle stings can be really bad, but most are not. Some people are particularly sensitive and need a quick run across the drag and into Addington Hospital. But most times the pain goes away on it’s own in about 15 minutes.
Treatments include white vinegar. And the juice of a beach aloe, if you can find one.
If you get stung…
Be careful to remove the blue stingers from your body. This can be tricky what with waves and surf crashing all around you. Leaving the water is your best option. Where you can attract the attention of a lifeguard or someone to help remove the stingers. Which can really stick! And when they come loose, are all over again looking for another victim.
The stingers inject a kind of poison into your skin and flesh. It is excruciatingly painful. Especially if one gets stuck in your bathing suit or wetsuit. I have been stung in the mouth before and man-oh-man are your lips and tongue highly sensitive places! Getting stung in an existing open wound is absolutely nightmarish and that has also happened to me.
Which is why I penned up a book called Bitten. It’s a tongue-in-cheek travel guide on how not to get bitten in Southern Africa. It’s a fun read and you can pre- order a copy right here on this website – thesardine.co.za. Email Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com to do it the easy way.
The book makes a great gift to someone you might know is traveling to our corner of the globe.
The Block in the morning by Alan
Sardines n Sighting Maps
It has been a fantastic sardine run this memorable 2024. And all the action has been logged right here on The Sardine News. This year’s map has been viewed 182,000 times and keeps growing.
Which led us to decide to keep the map live. And keep adding unique marine animal sightings and events. That occurs non-stop all year round. This year we started to log more whale and dolphin sightings. And we even had a shipwreck! And a freaking tornado!
These events will from now on be included in the Sardine News Sightings Map for 2024. And on the 1 January 2025, we shall start all over again.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps. Great for chilly day like today to research. With instructions to install The Sardine News right on your phone or desktop.
2024 Sardine Map
2023 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 – complain here
Websites
umzimkulu.co.za – self-catering right on the Umzimkulu River
umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za – will get you right onto the edge
thesardine.co.za – never miss a single sardine or storm warning
masterwatermen.co.za – news from deep down
brucifire.co.za – surf and conditions reporting
fishbazaruto.com – your dreams are out there
mydofishinglures.co.za – technical sport fishing