Brace yourself, KZN, you’re about to be ‘dined!
June 30, 2010
Great news! We’ve had numerous reports of solid dolphin (both common & bottlenose) and gannet feeding activity off Red Sands, Wild Coast. This is a mere 20 km south of Port Edward. Fishermen confirmed the presence of sardine in the stomachs of gamefish landed in this region. We can expect the advance shoals to reach Port Edward by the weekend, and if these shoals get squashed shorewards by warm water, then we can expect to be thrilled.
The arrival of these fish follows a period of cooling of shelf waters to within sardine’s preferred temperature range (compare the above SST image with that from the 21st June). In the image from the 26thJune, there is a clearly visible strip of 20 °C water reaching up to KZN. While these do not represent the epic conditions of 2004 (see below, but note the different temperature scales used), they should be sufficient to allow sardines to reach KZN. Once again, the importance of temperature in regulating the movement of these fish is manifest as circumstantial evidence.
Sea surface temperature on 23rd June 2004. image courtesy of rsmarinsesa.org.za
We’ll be heading back down to Port St Johns on Sunday, where we will hopefully be able to conclude our shark tagging data collection.
photo: Will Robbins
Hi,
WE are doing the live aboard for the run next year. Would love to talk to you about having you guys on board for a few days if you are interested.
Debbie Smith will be working with us. I am in Pennington. Give me a call 082 965 2406.
Cheers,
Ivan
exiting news bud… sounds promising…I have been following the M R S U sat images and would like to know which satilite is the best to follow… also noticed that the images dont always show the clear image of the surface temp… must be those dame clouds… cant wait for the next update… SARDINE FEAVER!
REGARDS RHYN
No news of them yesterday, but with that westerly the fish may have been lying low. We’ll see what happens today!! Will post any news that I get.
ciao