Tag: sardines

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Sardines off Coffee Bay!

Sardines off Coffee Bay!

HITW hike
Hikers on the trail skirting the cliffs and views on the walk to Hole in the Wall, from Coffee Bay, in the Transkei would have seen all the action. Notice the alow in full bloom – traditionally a precursor to the arrival of the sardines.   Pic by Gareth Sparg (c)

Confirmed reports have filtered in about shoals of sardines passing by Coffee Bay in the Transkei, birds diving and dolphins chasing.

The area is inundated with holiday folk chasing after what hopes to be the start of ‘the greatest shoal on earth’. And fisherfolk chasing fish.

Garrick caught next to the Hole in the Wall
Gareth Sparg shot this photo of a spearo with his catch of the day, in the good weather last week. Garrick are always around when the sardines arrive.

The ocean out front of White Clay Resort was where most activity was observed.

Conditions are currently ideal for the shoals of sardines to make their way up north, and hopefully into Natal waters.

The Transkei Wild Coast - (in)famous for so many things...(c) Gareth Sparg
The Transkei Wild Coast – (in)famous for so many things…let your imagination run wild over this spot(c) Gareth Sparg

http://whiteclayresort.co.za/ can arrange these views and more…

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Sardines nowhere…

Sardines nowhere…

Although conditions are real good for the sardines, we have yet another no show, so far the year.

On Friday, the Natal Sharks Board plane flew south but returned with to report, again. Port st. Johns and back…

Maybe the fleet of boats hauling sardines in net after net, offloading at Port St. Francis, has something to with it…?

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Humpback Whales everywhere…!

Humpback Whales everywhere…!

There is no point posting any sightings of the humpback whales on their sojourn up the east coast of Africa- there are just so many of them!

Travelling north in random patterns and formations, the whales are having a blast, jumping clean out of the water often times.

As far as the sardines are concerned, it’s only the red eye version of the sardine, to report. Shoals moving north were being hustled by dolphins and gamefish…a similar scene to normal sardines but on a very small scale.

The water has cooled over the last two weeks, to about 19 degrees some times and places, which is great for the sardines, if they decide to come this way!

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Red eye Sardines

[twitchermap]

Submitted by: Sean Lange

Report:

Small baitballs of Redeye Sardines (Etrumeus teres) were reported by the Natal Sharks Board spotting plane. They seem to have moved northwards to the Waterfall Bluff area, and are confirmed not to be regular sardines, by a dive operator at sea at the time.

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The aloes are in bloom…

Which means, according to south coast folklore, two weeks ’til sardines. But the very warm water, hovering around 24 degrees, is likely to keep the sards away.
One thing it definitely means is…big surf…check out Uvongo yesterday…at 8ft plus yesterday.

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