The Greatest Shoal On Earth is a natural phenomenon that takes place each year in June/ July in Kwazulu Natal; most South Africans refer to it as the Sardine Run.
The Sardine Run is made up of billions of sardines that spawn in the cold waters of the Agulhas Bank south-east of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. These shoals then move up the East Coast of South Africa where they come close to shore and sometimes even beach on the South coast beaches of Kwazulu Natal; they've even been seen on Durban's main beaches, but this is a rarity.
We visited Cape Agulhas in March this year and spotted dark blotches deep in the ocean; many Gannets and other sea birds were very active down there at the time.
2020 has been a bumper Sardine Season that has not been seen for many years, with birds, dolphins and sharks as well as other sea predators having a feeding frenzy; one good spin-off from Covid19 restrictions, as has been seen in many countries of the world where nature has reclaimed its rightful place!
This spectacle annually attracts many tourists but this year due to Covid19 travel restrictions, only locals can enjoy the bumper Sardine Run!
Local radio stations report on the movements of the shoals with locals flocking to the beaches hoping to see a shoal beach or watch the seine netting of sardine shoals and get to buy crates of sardines.
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The first sign of Sardines is large dark spots in the ocean with hundreds of gannets circling and dive-bombing into the water. Tourism operators take people out to sea to spot the sharks and dolphins that follow these little silvery delights.
There have been many television documentaries on this phenomenon such as the BBC's Blue Planet series and National Geographic.
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Friends went to the beach this week when they heard that sardines had been spotted and brought us a packet of freshly netted Sardines.
I usually enjoy cleaning fish, but Sardines is not my specialty as these little silvery fish are way too fiddly and tiny, so hubby was left to do the gutting and cleaning; I was only too happy to do the cooking afterwards!
BAKED LEMON & HERB SARDINES
- 16 fresh Sardines
- Juice from 1 Lemon
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- Chopped fresh herbs - Thyme & Fennel
- 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp Dry Onions flakes
- Salt & Pepper
Mix marinade ingredients together, pour over Sardines & mix lightly to coat fish.
Bake in very hot fan oven 200°C for approx 30 min, turning halfway through cooking.
Serve with a fresh Garden Salad and Potato Wedges.
Almost forgot I still had some Avocado left that a friend gave us and this would finish the salad off beautifully.
I have prepared Sardines before by frying in a light batter but as it's an oily fish, baking them to a slight crisp in Lemon & Herb marinade sounded good and really brought out the flavours from the ocean; the tails were crispy and crunchy, absolutely delicious!
One could actually eat all the bones as well as it's soft and full of calcium, but I prefer pulling the flesh off the backbone.
We're going Sardine hunting this week as they're still very active so I hope we're successful; all the fishermen are allowed on the beaches again and everyone else is joining them when the Sardines strike:)
Hope to have some photos and show you some action from my view point.
I'm posting this Nature/Foodie post in the OCD Community as I'm celebrating reaching a rep of 70! This is one of the first communities I joined and I have to thank you 
My third birthday is peeking at me and what a wonderful journey it's been; only 9 more sleeps!
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