SANParks.org Forums

Just seen on the news that the Sardine run is in full swing.

I miss my KZN coastal days when I see this.

One of the most important natural things to happen in SA. Incredible to see the effect this migration has on nature, IMHO bigger than the Wildebeest Migration.

Wonderful The "Family Silverware" has arrived

Thanks for bumping this thread Scip, but by now all these silver ones are in tins ready for human consumption. They are good to eat, but is there nobody on the forum from the KZN coast to give a running report? Hugh where were you?

Saw it the first time we visited SA.. It was amazing

Took the family to see it one year. Had a beached whale in the town we stayed. Phew, the pong. But think about it, Sanparks can make more of this occurence on the coastal parks. It is spectacular.

Interesting thread Sprocky!

Very fascinating…the Sardine Run!! The Sardine Run is to a high extent a unique and unexplained phenomenon. The main spawning grounds for Sardines in South Africa are the Southern Cape coast where the breeding season is occurring through the spring and early summer. Sardines release their eggs in the water where it is fertilized and left to drift off.

Apparently most developing larvae are carried west and north in the Atlantic Ocean (West Coast) and the migration of huge Sardine shoals to Southern KwaZulu-Natal remains to certain extend unexplained.

Sardines follows the cold currents feeding on plankton while converging close to the surface and shoreline and once they reached Durban they move further offshore where they disappear in the big blue.

Sardines are swimming closely together for self protection (safety in numbers), but they are hunted by thousands of birds like Gannets plunging from the skies, sharks such as Bronze Whalers, Zambezi’s (Bulls), Great Whites, Hammerheads, Tigers and many more. Bottlenose and Common dolphins chases the Sardines in “bait balls” moving them closer to the surface and then they have a Sardine feast!!

This is one of the greatest spectacles on earth and gives great opportunities to birders, scuba divers and snorkellers.

Herewith a link to an update on the Sardine Run. Unfortunately this update was last updated on 31 July 2009:

http://www.kznsearch.co.za/id35.htm

It seems that the Sardine Run is over now? I would also like to hear from our fellow mites down from the coast.



Agree with you on the SANParks issue Scipio!
A while back I saw an insert on TV about a beached whale that was ponging up a beach big time. The powers decided to blow it to pieces with dynamite...big mistake, the whole town was ponged!!

On the Discovery channel there is a new show called "Amazing Animal Events" & last night it was an hour devoted to the "sardine run" & the animals that depend on this so much that their breeding schedules coincide
with it.

The show was incredible!!! 500 million sardines and a feeding frenzy for many other creatures...

Also a creature I had never heard of..a Brutus Whale?

The life cycle of the gannets was also featured extensively...how the chicks learn to fly, dive, swim & hunt....

One thing I found amazing...was that the sharks were only interested in the sardines, and not the dolphins or seals.
Also.. before the run, the seals kill the gannet chicks for their stomach contents of fish..not the bird itself!