You may have heard that the Sardine Run of 2003 did not exactly unfold as expected – well that is the nature of Nature after all. In the first year that KwaZulu Natal Tourism went all out, pouring millions of rands into marketing “The Greatest Shoal on Earth” the sardines stubbornly refused to join the party – or was that really the case?

Oceans Africa were in KwaZulu Natal to see how we could tackle the problem of structuring tours for 2004 around such an unpredictable event. But first let us return to the beginning of January 2003.

From our base in Plettenberg Bay we start to see an increasing amount of sardine activity. Bait balls are easily seen in the shallows and just behind the breakers. The resident seals are looking smug and the bottlenose dolphins are forming larger groups – a sure sign of abundant food. On some days the sardines are so thick we can easily catch them in hand-held nets for a positive identification. At the same time sightings of the larger predators are on the increase.

Common dolphins, groups of five hundred to two thousand in number, are seen ripping through the bay on an almost daily basis. Feeding and even mating at high speed they just don’t seem to stop. In their wake we often find Brydes whales (on one occasion eight) trying to keep up with the action and lunge feeding through the conveniently dolphin-herded shoals of sardines whenever possible.

In early May we find our largest shoal of sardines yet, only twenty meters wide it lies just one kilometer south of the Robberg Peninsular and extends for almost three kilometers. Strangely there are no diving birds or other visible predators, although something is obviously pushing them up from below, perhaps gamefish, maybe sharks, or possibly both. Having no dive gear handy at the time we will never know.

The sardine sightings continue and the 6th May 2003 is a day of much excitement. One of our commercial fishermen - Oscar - complains of being harassed through the night by a young orca intent on playing soccer with his anchor buoy. We find the orcas the next day and for the first time this year. It is the same group sighted in May 2002. Mother and calf are escorted by the fully mature and very distinctive male.

Could there be an orca / sardine run connection ? They do seem to be on a similar cycle and the orcas are certainly interested in the Brydes whales. On two occasions they are seen harrying and attacking a group repeatedly before apparently losing interest. Awestruck we realise who is really topping the food chain and become momentarily apprehensive when the calf turns its attention to our boats engines.

What we’ve seen in the last few months has been a revelation - and please excuse our ignorance for what now seems obvious. The sardine run is a national event !. Sardines start to shoal as far west as Cape Town before following the coastal counter current east. They are then gradually concentrated along the Wildcoast before they finally push through to the south coast of KwaZulu Natal.

Although we haven’t managed to dive with the sardines in the Western Cape all the signs are here for a monster run in 2003 - We start to make plans for our own migration north.

For the last three years the sardines have hit the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal during the first two weeks of June. Our Natal connections claim they always used to arrive during school holidays (the first week in July) and this year, their predictions seem to be right back on track.

We leave Plettenberg Bay on the 19th June 2003. The word is, ‘the sards’ (a shoal 2km wide and 8km long) are off Hamburg just south of East London. We stop in at Port Alfred for some excellent diving and hear news from a local fisherman who was pulled around in the night by an orca on his anchor line and buoy - make your own conclusions on that one. Meanwhile a strong SW wind moves us and hopefully the sardines north.

Travelling up the Wildcoast, Coffee Bay has seen a lot of bird action but nobody’s been out. Conditions look promising and we make arrangements to dive but are let down by a local operator. Moving to Port St Johns we miss the last mobile operator by one day. They have just left having waited two weeks with international clients. “The diving has been very good with lots of sharks but the shoals were only seen deep at 80m on the echosound.”

Deciding to head north while we wait for the sardines in the south, we go all the way to Sodwana Bay and hit some horrendous weather. We only manage one dive on Five Mile Reef. By July 8th we are south again at Umkomaas and strike it lucky on Aliwal Shoal with some excellent dives. Visibility is fifteen to twenty meters and there is no current. ‘Raggie season’ has just started and we find good sharks in and around Raggies Cave and Cathedrals.

The wreck of The Produce (1974) also provides some world class diving. Diving the stern section we are graced by three medium size manta rays. They stay with us for over 20min and repeatedly come close enough to touch. Something eventually spooks them and they disappear at warp speed – we suspect a shark may be responsible and one of the mantas already has a large chunk missing from its starboard side.

By the 10th July we are back at Shelly Beach on the KwaZulu Natal South Coast. There is still no sign of the sardines so we decide to settle in, relax and wait to see what happens. But fever and frustration grip us. Vicious rumors of netting abound and we drive up and down the coast looking for signs. Everyone has their own theory and you don’t know who to believe. Someone is even selling last years sardines on the roadside as this years’ catch. The Natal Sharks Board put their nets back in, a sure sign that the run is over, only to remove them a few days later. We are suckered and stay another week.

And yet, amid all the rumors and false alarms of impending sardine invasions (instigated, we suspect, by those with a vested interest in keeping tourists and sardine obsessed fools like ourselves in the area and spending money) we managed some awesome diving.

Protea Banks never failed to impress. Follow the flyingfish offshore and dive when you see albatros circling. Every day without fail we encounter humpback whales on our way to and from the divesite. Migrating north, they seem to keep inshore and use the same counter current that is supposed to bring the sardines. We even see two southern right whales – it's unusual to find them this far north.

All this time the ragged-tooth sharks are gathering in the caves of Proteas’ Northern Pinnacles. The dives just get better and better until we regularly find over 40 sharks per cave. On the 20th July we are totally surrounded by Tuna. Forming a column from 30m to the surface they seem attracted to our bubbles and stay with us for over ten minutes. Mesmerised, we forget the sharks and try to estimate their numbers – easily over five thousand.

As you can see, hanging around on the South Coast of KwaZuluNatal can never really be a problem for anyone who loves the ocean.

As for the Sardines..... we had to start facing facts. For the first time in almost ten years KwaZulu Natal will not be a feature of this years sardine run. Even on Protea Banks, eight kilometers offshore, the current is running from south to north. This means that the mighty Agulhas current (running from north to south) is further offshore than usual. The sardines then have plenty of space to pass through in deeper water without being forced inshore and into the shallows - that’s our theory anyway and it is just one amongst many others.

Diehards and fools to the end we’re asked to help with a yacht delivery from Durban to Cape Town. This in hindsight was a very bad idea in August, but at the time it seemed a good opportunity (or a desperate last chance) to see what might have happened to the sardines.

On the 2nd Aug 2003 at 3am, having lost steering in the middle of the night, we’re forced to use the emergency tiller arm. Working three hour shifts in a confused 4m swell with 60 knot NE gusts behind us, we find ourselves surrounded by the unmistakable, almost overpowering smell of sardine oil. We are south of Port St Johns, about eight miles off Mazeppa. Bay. Despite our handicaps we are still averaging 12 knots over ground (8 knots + 4 knots current ) and as we break almost all previous speed records, we can still smell the sardines three hours later - this has to be a massive shoal ! Where they’d been and where they were going we’d never know and to be honest, at the time we were beyond caring. All we could pray for was to arrive home safely and contemplate a new life - perhaps ostrich farming - in the desert landscapes of the Karoo.

In Summary:

• As a means of transport sailing should always be your last option.
• Ostrich farming is not so appealing after all.
• The sardine run is a national event.
• Sardines are very unpredictable.
• The diving in KwaZulu Natal is excellent anyway.
• We’ll be there in 2004 – JOIN US.

UPDATES.......

November 30th 2003, Plettenberg Bay - We’ve just had our first sardines of the 2004 run. A kilometer long shoal was completely destroyed by common dolphins, sharks, seals and birds in the space of two hours.

December 2nd 2003, Plettenberg Bay - Large pockets of sardines just behind the surfline.

Jan 2004, Plettenberg Bay - Periodic sightings of pockets and predators.

3rd Feb 2004, Plettenbergbay - For the last week there have been large groups of common dolphins in the area - today was exceptional. Sardines everywhere, birds diving, and an estimated 5000 common dolphins.

1st March 2004 - Another spectacular feeding frenzy inside the bay. 1000 dolphins, a vortex of over 3000 gannets diving and a couple of Brydes whales lunge feeding.