Search the Shallows for Sardines today 19 June 2023

#sardine #2023 #run #umtentweni #kzn #south #africa

What a day! At the normally quiet little beach down on the KZN lower south coast - Umtentweni, a shoal of sardines lost their way in the dark of the moonless night. And when the sun came up, they were caught on the inside in the shallows. Where humans can get to them. Umtentweni often experiences this in the sardine run. And the grannies pool where people usually swim, is the perfect trap.

But it gets more interesting...

At the river mouth of the Umzimkulu, in Port Shepstone, a few clicks south of Umtentweni, there were guys catching sardines by hand there too. But on the inside of the bridge! The tide was rushing out at spring tide speed so it can only be deduced that there were sardines in the river overnight. They also must have got totally lost as they came around The Block, hugged the edge to keep cover from the predators, and swam right up the river! This also has happened before, many times.

Conditions for today

Well the water is dirty again. And warm. With the Agulhas Current coming right in close yesterday, we are on 23 degrees. Perfect for swimming and surfing. But sardines like it way down at 19.

However, with a powerful low tide in the mid-morning, more sardines are gonna get lost and find themselves in this hot water. If you are lucky enough to be out there, check the inside channels, pools and gulleys as the tide drains.