What is the term for the mass migration of sardines off South Africa?

The term for the mass migration of sardines off South Africa is the sardine run. Each southern winter, enormous shoals of Southern African pilchards move northward along the country’s east coast, creating one of the ocean’s most dramatic feeding spectacles.

The run is especially associated with the KwaZulu-Natal coast and usually occurs from May through July. The fish are linked to cool coastal water moving north from the Agulhas Bank, while the warmer Agulhas Current helps confine the sardines close to shore. When conditions are right, shoals may stretch for kilometres.

The sardines attract common dolphins, sharks, game fish, Cape gannets, penguins, seals, and whales. Their predators compress the shoals into dense “bait balls,” turning the migration into a vast underwater feeding frenzy.

The event is not guaranteed every year. Water temperature, currents, winds, and offshore conditions can alter its route or keep the fish too far from shore to be seen. The oldest known written record dates to the Natal Mercury newspaper on 4 August 1853.