Photo: John Lamberti
The KZN Sharks Board undertook a flight to “ Hole in the Wall” off the Eastern Cape Coast this morning to see if there were any signs of shoals of sardines approaching the KZN south coast ahead of the cold front which is expected to arrive on Thursday morning.
No definite shoals of sardine were seen however about 1000 Cape gannets were seen diving sporadically about 1nm off Sugar Loaf which is situated about 8kms to the south of Port St Johns. There was no other activity in the area and it is suspected that these birds were feeding on shoals of various types of baitfish that are generally found off the Eastern Cape coast for most of the year.
Numerous reports of sardines having been netted at Margate this past Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning are not factual. Photographs that are currently doing the rounds on social media are all from years gone by. All beaches protected with shark safety gear along the KZN coast are currently open for bathing.