The Greatest Shoal on Earth, less prosaically known at the Sardine Run, has been an annual event along the east coast of South Africa for decades. What was simply a natural resource that provided an easily accessible protein source for local inhabitants and an income for fisherman has become a tourist event, classified with the Serengeti Migration and Iceland Atlantic Puffins as “Must See Nature Sites“.
The Sardines
The sardines, which are more correctly known as the Southern African Pilchard (Sardinops sagaxis), are the most fished species in South African waters, although not the most valuable industry. The pilchards are harvested on the Agulhas Bank, a broad, shallow part of the continental shelf which extends 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of Africa. The meeting of the warm Indian and cold Atlantic oceans fuels the nutrient cycle for marine life, resulting in one of the best fishing grounds in South Africa.
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