co za, south africa domain and top domain sales Information

The Greatest Show on Earth

It begins simply enough. A shiver deeply embedded in the genetics of a sardine called a pilchard ripples through a few billion of its closest friends off Cape Agulhas, South Africa, sometime in late May. Thus initiates, for a reason not yet understood by science, the annual migration of thousands of tons of sardines 900 miles up the coast to Durban.

The beginning of this massive movement of tightly packed protein, the largest single movement of biomass on the planet, does not go unnoticed.

Waiting along the cold-water corridor is a catalog of ravenous predators: hundreds of bronze whaler, bull and dusky sharks; dolphins by the thousands; clouds of sky-diving cape gannet and albatross; fur seals; humpback and minke whales; and, of course, camera-toting divers, blue-water adventurers and local fishermen all intent on acts of gluttonous immoderation.

The sardines travel along a narrow passageway between two currents, and you would think finding them would be easy. Not so. Each morning at daybreak, ultralight aircraft prowl the coastline looking for the telltale moving shadow that betrays a shoal of fast-moving sardines. The sardine shoals come appetizer-sized, at a couple of football fields across, or in full-on smorgasbord proportions, a mile wide, 40 feet thick and stretching and winding for two or three miles along the coast. When the word is given, divers rush to the beach, where wild shore entries in inflatables through high surf deliver them to a feeding frenzy of ineffable proportions. On the way to the shoal, hundreds of dolphins break the surface all around the boat as they make their hungry way to the sardines. With them come the sharks, squawking sea birds lining up for their aerial assault, the whales and the seals in such numbers that it seems as if someone has unwittingly rung a dinner bell whose sound circles the Earth.

What happens next is a nonstop, high-speed spectacle that, for a diver, is remembered only in flashes and snippets later that night. The shoal is driven into a tight, swirling cyclone of a baitball by the circling predators, and then, in jolting, unnerving and lighting-fast movements the sardines are picked off from all angles, despite polarizing around the attackers and shifting their mass in a synchronous ebb and flow meant to lull and confuse the hungry hoards. But, in the end, they are overwhelmed, and the shoal is decimated. In their wake remains a glittering cloud of silvery, disembodied sardine scales, bloated bellies and wide-eyed divers who've just experienced one of the most unforgettable and electrifying exhibitions on the planet.

Dive Planner
When to go: The month of June only. Timing of the experience is at the whimsy of the sardines and the temperature of the currents and is not guaranteed to happen on any certain day or within any certain week. Come prepared to stay on the hunt for three to five weeks. Also, plan on a couple of land tours it's a part of the world crammed with topside adventures as well. Water temp: 58-65°F Special considerations: The event takes place in the open ocean, typically hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet deep. It's an adventure of a lifetime for advanced divers only. So, spend some quality time in the water honing your skills before you visit. Where: KwaZulu/Natal coast and Waterfall Bluff, Transkei; best place to stay is the Mbotyi River Lodge, www.mbotyi.co.za . For more information: www.biganimals.com ; www.africanwatersports.com ; www.bluewilderness.co.za (Book early and only go with experienced operators.)

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]