Sardine Run 2026 on Fire
By Lloyd Edwards

1. News

Never in the last 30 years have I seen such a cracker of a start to our world-famous sardine run. On our last cruise we encountered tens of kilometres of baitfish. They were as far as the eye and our drone could see. Long may it continue!

We encountered a school of around 2000 Long-beaked common dolphins, getting multiple bait balls on the go. There must have been at least 20 Bryde's whales feeding in the area. There were so many bait fish that they were not doing the classic upright lunge-feed, but kind of parallel to the surface, as can be seen in the images.

Debate is raging about why there are so many bait fish around. We do know what lures them into Algoa Bay. It is the upwelling at the Addo Canyons that brings the nutrients and plankton spores to the surface. This starts off the plankton growth, which feeds the fish and ultimately the top predators. But why so many?

Well, what we do know is that the sardine purse seine fishery has been banned for the last year from fishing within 20km of the African Penguin breeding colony at St Croix Island. Is it just coincidental that this is now where these massive schools of fish are being found?

It is probably too soon to tell what the implications of this ban could be, but I guess time will tell. What we do know is that the sardine and anchovy life cycle is quite short, so a rapid recovery could very well be taking place.

Today we have a full day cruise to Bird Island to look for white sharks. Let’s hope we get many bait balls along the way!

A Bryde's whale lunge feeds at the surface, check out how much the throat has extended! Take note of the eye just above the curve of the jaw. Also, the 3 longitudinal ridges on the rostrum distinguish it from other rorquals. Taken with a Nikon Z9, ISO 500, 200mm zoom cropped to 300mm, f/8 and 1/1600th second.

One of my favourite shots of Long-beaked common dolphins following to our catamaran, half in and out of the water. Note the trail of bubbles from the submerged blowhole.

Cape gannets rain down from the heavens, hitting the water at speeds of up to 100km/h. Special adaptions to their bodies allow this extreme way of feeding.

A Bryde's whale grabs a mouthful of sardines at the surface, while gannets and other birds flee the area, so as not to end up as part of the meal!

Caught this guy at full breach, they are such an incredibly beautiful animal.

A Cape gannet hits the surface after a feeding dive. It is busy swallowing a sardine before any of the other thieving birds can take it away.