11 Jun, 2008

The underwater crew find fish in astounding numbers, pursued by birds, dolphins and sharks, when they move their position to Waterfall Bluff.

After the wind of yesterday we were not very optimistic about today's conditions for filming the sardine migration along the South African coast, but as we moved slowly north the sea became flatter and flatter.

By 9am the sea was glassy and we were heading towards the dark buttresses of Waterfall Bluff. We were soon joined by a big pod of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) playing in the bow wave of the boat.

We eventually arrived at Grosvenor to find the sea dotted with the white flecks of Cape gannets (Morus capensis). Huge shoals of sardines (Sardinops sagax) could be seen below the surface and every now and again a big shark would loom at the surface before diving back into the seething mass below.

We jumped overboard and sank a few metres down into the shoal. Sardines swam frenetically past us, while numerous species of sharks prowled through them, parting the masses of little fish.

Ragged-tooth sharks (Carcharias taurus) on their annual breeding migration were also there, tracking the mobile food source closely.

Later in the afternoon, the common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) arrived and balled some of the fish into smaller pockets, giving the Cape gannets something more specific to aim at. Gannets rained down, penetrating the water and gobbling up the fish very efficiently.

The grand finale was a tightly packed ball of sardines being chased by a gallery of dolphins, sharks and gannets.

– by Graeme Duane, Earth-Touch crew © Earth-Touch

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