The Sardine Run in South Africa is one of the world’s most incredible marine events. Annually, from May to July, vast shoals of sardines move from their temperate-water home off South Africa’s southern coast and travel north-east into the sub-tropical waters of South Africa’s Wild Coast. Following the shoals is a unparalleled concentration of marine predators, including sharks, dolphins, whales, gannets and game fish.
When predators meet prey a feeding event of unmatched proportions begins. Thousands of common dolphins charge after the shoals, separating them into densely packed bait balls and driving them to the surface. Watched by the omnipresent Cape gannets, an aerial assault on the sardines then begins when tens of thousands of gannets begin their spectacular plunge diving displays. Below the bait balls are easy pickings not only for dolphins, but also for shivers of bronze-whaler, dusky and blacktip sharks. The final player, is the behemoth Bryde’s whale whose huge mouth can decimate an entire bait ball in a single lunge
