Shark Booking’s easy-to-use, comprehensive website is the perfect resource to plan your ideal dive holiday package or shark diving package! The informative website lists a number of different dive packages available, including the opportunity to experience one of the greatest migrations on earth, the phenomenon of the sardine run! Every year billions of fish migrate- this activity is largely unexplained but it is generally agreed that the movement coincides with the cold currents moving up the east coast of South Africa. The migration is so large, that it can even be viewed from space!
Cold water is pressed up the coast from the south from Port Elizabeth, and then moves up to Durban. The stream of water is pushed by the oncoming winter climate and storms, and stimulates the mass movement of enormous numbers of sardines up the East Coast of South Africa. It is an astonishing sight, not only because of the spiralling, fluid bait balls, but also because of the incredible diversity of predators which feed off the sardines.
Choosing a holiday package to view the sardine run is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most divers. The astonishing size of the bait balls is breath-taking, as is the strategic predatory behaviour adopted by the hungry predators that feed off them. The sardines create the bait balls for protection in order to confuse their predators. They form tightly packed balls, which constantly move with different fish alternating, taking turns to be on the outskirts of the ball. The constant fluxing motion of the bait ball is mesmerizing to watch as it continually reshaping, but remains structured. They look like massive, pulsing, flickering black balls, which the predators rush at, breaking momentarily.
With your holiday package you can expect to see a variety of predators at work, including a diverse range of shark species – the Dusky sharks, Copper sharks, Bull sharks, Black tip sharks, Ragged tooth sharks. Port St Johns is at the hub of all the activity, located at a migration hot spot, which is the ideal place for a dive package holiday, in order to view the astonishing feeding frenzy first hand. Spot the beautiful bottle-nose dolphin which seems to be permanently smiling, watch playful common dolphins, and seals, and you will even be lucky enough to see the gentle giants of the sea. Whales are a frequent sight, and many species can be found feasting off the fish, including the Humpback whales and the elusive Bryde’s whales. The whales swim up from below the sardines, like slipstreamed torpedoes, with their massive, gaping mouths wide open, appearing from no-where to snatch great mouthfuls of fish. The dolphins work together to shepherd the sardines, taking turns to charge, while Cape Gannets bomb the water, in a fast-paced dive, if you blink you may miss it.
This remarkable dive package offers the unique opportunity to witness ‘the greatest shoal on earth,’ and to dive with majestic whales, sharks, and dolphins. Spotting whales from the boat and from shore is part of the fun, and if you’re lucky, you can see thousands of dolphins performing amazing acrobatic feats as they duck and dive in and out of the sea.
Shark Bookings is a fantastic resource for planning your perfect dive holiday package with the best packages available from the best operators. Witnessing this migration is an astonishing privilege, which will undoubtedly be an experience that you never forget.
