Umdloti Beach

Sardine Run 2010

August 14th 2010 and Sardines are still active on the north coast from Umdloti to Ballito.

The Sardine-Run Expedition is a unique expedition exploring the annual sardine migration on South Africa's rugged Wild Coast travelling as far north as the Dolphin Coast. Sardine fever starts sometime in June/July each year. The "run" or migration of sardines begins off the cool waters south of the African continent where they form into hundreds of large swirling shoals. The sardines then run north east into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and mass into what has been dubbed "The Greatest Shoal on Earth". It's not unusual for shoals to be 4 miles long and 1 mile wide, they are clearly visible from the surface of the ocean.

What makes this such a spectacular show is not simply the gigantic waves of silvery sardines but the legions of predators that congregate en masse anticipation of the year's greatest feast. As a result the waters attract sharks, dolphins, Cape Gannets, cormorants, seals, and even, on occasion, Orcas, albatross and penguins that have followed the Sardines thousands of kilometres from the southern ocean. The Sardine Run also coincides with the annual migration of Humpback Whales that move north for the season into warmer water to mate and calve.

Thanks to Jacci Murison, Shane Haworth and Sharon Creswell for sending in the pictures