10 June 2024 Where do Sardines even Come From?: Sometimes in life, you got to make important decisions. And it ain’t no different for sardines!
In this 10 June 2024 Sardine News update, we have an overload of entertaining and informative video. To everyone who sent clips in, especially the dude in the flying machine, a huge THANK you from all of us who follow things here at The Sardine News. Your contributions are giving the public a 3D look at what goes on at the beach during these fun times.
Enjoy the video…
Monday 10 June 2024
Will go down as one of the most beautiful and memorable days in sardine run history. It all just unfolded so fast. The ocean here in KZN recovers quick, but tghis was lightning speed. Clean water hugging the coastline making for the most picturesque sardine scenes ever.
A handful of nets went in. And some were huge! 400 Crates type thing!
Where do sardines come from?
But the main story in this report is Kevin brushing on where these sardines and actually live. And what choices they faced, in order to get all this way from home.
It is fascinating stuff. And is complemented by animations and video as Kevin explains the life cycle of Sardinops Sagax, our beloved sardines.
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Sardine Run EXPLAINED! Currents and Counter-Currents
Sardine Run EXPLAINED! Currents and Counter-Currents: in this detailed explanation, currents and counter-currents are discussed.
Over to Kevin…
Okay, chaps, I think one of the most important factors that should be discussed when we’re talking about why the sardine run happens is the currents, the currents and the counter currents and the winter conditions that facilitate this movement of the Atlantic. Deep sardines into the Natal waters.
It’s a known fact that they’re actually not migrating. They’re not spawning. They’re not breeding. They’re just basically becoming part of the food chain. And that is, the whole weird thing about the sardine run. But certain factors facilitate it and make it what it is. One of the most important is the currents.
On the east coast of South Africa, we have a predominant Mozambique current, which is north to south. And um, if you go out on the shelf off of me here at Qora, it’s about 19 k’s out. The current can scream four, five, six kilometres an hour. So, That’s one of the reasons why the sardines come close to shore is because they wouldn’t actually make any headway out off the shelf.
So they come off the shelf into the shallower waters where the currents are a lot mellower due to bottom friction with shallow water. And they move up the coast where they’re not fighting as much current, but something important is that in wintertime, we get a counter current that is like a, if you can imagine a river that has little eddies off to the rapids where the water kind of goes backwards and circles, that’s basically what’s happening off the shelf because the water just kind of eddies closer in, in wintertime and we get a South to North current close into land and it’s a very cold plume.
So that’s what the sardines need. They need the cold water. And that starts way down in the Cape. And it kind of circles them up when they come out of the Atlantic. Most of them go up the west coast of Africa, but some of them splinter off. And that’s what becomes the sardine run. So yeah, they’re following a cold water plume, a counter-current that’s moving up the coast.
And that’s one of the most important factors that happens every winter that moves them along.
Kevin in Qora Flabbergasted by HUGE Shoal of Sardines TODAY 30 May 2024
Kevin in Qora Flabbergasted by HUGE Shoal of Sardines TODAY 30 May 2024: listen to this very exciting voice note from Kevin in Qora as he reports being flabbergasted by the size of the shoal of sardines out front of his cottage in Qora today.
Words like motherload and early season show the severity of Kevin’s sardine fever-laden report. Makes me want to jump in a vehicle and head south right now!
? “Morning, everyone. This is Kevin from Qora Mouth. Just north of Mazepa Bay in the southern Transkei. Well, we’ve had those pilot shoals that came through over the last couple weeks. Which was a very good indicator that we’re going to have a wonderful sardine run again then we had a bit of a hold-up where sardines washed up in Haga Haga and we heard of a bigger shoal that was off of Sinsa And the water had warmed up a bit.
So that’s why I think that that shoal got held up and Now, today, there are literally thousands of birds out in front of me. I’m also seeing lots of predator activity whales breaching and I wouldn’t say it’s a super pod of dolphins, but plenty, plenty dolphin activity. But I’m talking thousands of birds stretched over probably a two-kilometer stretch lots of separate diving action So, what I’m going to say now is that this is a much larger shoal.
This just isn’t a little pilot shoal fractured off. This is something big. And being end of May, this is extremely unusual, but This is Big Chaps coming through here now, unfortunately my iPhone camera doesn’t do much justice to action that’s a couple kilometers out same as taking a full moon photo and all you see is a little yellow dot in the sky, but The evidence is here right in front of me.
It’s a very, very big shawl movement. I mean, this is on par with like the mother load that comes once a year and it’s way too early for the mother load unless it is the mother load. I don’t know. But Yeah, all I can say is I’m actually sitting here flabbergasted by the amount of activity and feeding going on.
I mean, I can’t even reiterate it more. Thousands and thousands of gannets big rafts everywhere where they’ve gorged themselves full and just others taking to the wing and diving. It’s just, you know, 20, 30 peeling off at a time, boiling the water. So yeah, this is good. This is good. Let’s see how fast they move.
This is the kind of shoal that definitely will reach KZN. So, yeah, keep your fingers crossed. Port St. John’s is the next port of call. There’s not much between here and there. There is Navaja where there’s some cottages. But it’s generally a quiet area, so the next major sighting and confirmation of this shoal is going to be Port St.
John’s Coffee Bay area, and that depending on how fast they move, let’s say we give them five to six days to get to Port St. John’s. But this is a big one. Cool buzz. Over and out. I’ll keep you updated. Cheers.”
Port St Johns
Is the next major port-of-call is gonna be Port St Johns. However, our sardine spies in Mdumbi might be up for some excitement this afternoon and in the morning.
The fishing has been rocking in Port St Johns the last few days.
Shoal sized kob on paddletail near Port St Johns
KZN
Fishing in KZN water and other nearby spots however has been dismal. When the sardines shoal northwards from the deep south like this, it causes chaos with the local fish populations. They also follow the food around the place.
Even the shad have been really slow up in KZN.
The exception being the couta up on the north coast at the moment. They are also here for the sardines but don’t dig the cold water down south at all. Port Edward is roughly their southern limit. And at the limits of the couta’s range here like this, these are the big fish. Only the really big couta make it this far south.
All if these fish were caught down that way, over the years…during the sardine season.
Louis Posthumous and team have been using Mydos for decades. Port Edward.Another huge couta catch down on the KZN South CoastAnd a beautiful healthy looking 28kg crocodile couta by Mark SnymanMark Snyman in Port EdwardKing Mackerel – 8 of, plus a hefty GTKarine van Rensburg of MYDO gives us some perspective standing next to Andre Laubschers magnificent 36.9kg ‘Couta taken off Port Edward
Cintsa Sardine Show 28 May 2024: Elton from GoDive reports a spectacular showing of sardines and predators off Cintsa yesterday.
Which was duly photographed by Nicolene Olckers. From DANSA as can be seen below…
We also were lucky enough to receive some video from the GoDive crew. Mark Graham took a video camera down under the sardines to get some radical shots of common dolphins doing what they do best. Obliterating a baitball of sardines with cunning and teamwork.
This is real wild life!
Sardine Sightings Map
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Sardine News 26 May: yacht run aground at Mdumbi, warm water, beached sardines at Haga Haga
Sardine News 26 May: yacht aground at Mdumbi, warm water, sardines beaching at Haga Haga: yesterdays sardine news todayt! We were meant to upload this report yesterday, but today will have to do. Luckily in this report we have Kevin and our other secret sardine spies on hand to explain what is going on this year, with the sards.
This sardine run 2024 has been off to an early start with a good bunch of sardines finding a chute of very cold water to catch up north. Then that cold water ran out. The ocean warmed by 5 degrees. And bang! We have sardines beaching themselves. Kevin explains this very nicely in the video for us.
Mdumbi
Mdumbi area as reported by Robbie. Yacht Tipsy ran aground 2 am in the morning. The NSRI got the crew of four off safely. The boat is a wreck, unfortunately. More at https://thesardine.co.za.
There have been sardines at Mdumbi. Sardines love the place, along with Coffee Bay, a few clicks to the south. The sards bring the shad. ANd the shad are going mad. Blue shad is the buzz word being bandied about by all and sundry at the moment.
Port St Johns
We get quite a comprehensive report from the Vegan Fishing YouTube Channel. It’s become a complicated place to be fishing. The sand is still going the wrong way in the bay. Rendering many of the best spots completely unfishable.
Luckily there is a garrick or two, on bucktail, in this segment. If you want to be right on the edge of uy7our chair when you watch YouTube fishing videos, check out this Vegan Fishing Channel and hold on tight. Like and Subscribe to neva miss a single garrick!
Kevin in Qora
Backs us up with a detailed and technical analysis of what has happened to those first pilot shoals of sardines. With some cool animations, to really explain the point.
At Haga Haga and its surrounds, sardines were washing up everywhere. All the beaches were flooded with patches of beached sardines.
