Greatest Show On Earth - Well One Of Them!
We complain about being plankton or minnows in Steemit terminology, let's take a look at slithering little 14 to 19 cm silver fish that do make our shores in a grand fashion presenting excitement to one and all. Small in size, big in numbers, makes all the difference at the end of the day.
Yesterday morning we heard the Sardine's had arrived on our local beaches, what does this mean, pack up and get down there fast. Similar to the way we snap and share here on steemit I am about to share a bit about what I know living on this coastline for close to 40 years.
Community drops everything to make it down to the beach, everyone gets involved with helping to drag the nets in, yes the guys with the boats and nets need licences to extract the silver treasure from shallow waters. Some arrive in the hope of claiming a few for future fishing (used as bait), food for some cooked into curry dishes, pickled, fried, anyway you enjoy eating them, they are Pilchard after all.
Community stand together shoulder to shoulder with the 'beach master' (normally someone who owns a boat) conducting his orchestra of assistants who know the drill. Today small shoals have broken off the bait ball, moving up the coast. Rubber duckies or small craft, with onboard motors are launched from the beach to drop the net in a semi-circle.
Two or three men go out, two normally jump off of the small craft into the sea while the third drops the net and returns to shore. The plan is 2 swim within the net, using flat hand sea slapping technique, slowly herding the sardines ever more into the back of the net. Once the herding is completed the ropes on the shoreline are brought together closing the half circle effectively, then slowly pulled in by assistants, some are paid, skilled in what they do, others volunteering to be involved for the sheer thrill of the experience.
You Tube Video's to watch this event...
It is a day everyone forgets who they are, lost in the moment to an ancestral way of fishing via nets, rich and poor rub shoulders to obtain the slithering silver fish. Once they start pulling close to the shore, some escape and this is where the children have fun catching them by hand and tipping into waiting buckets, it does not matter whose bucket it goes into!
While the main Amanzimtoti beach made the news and had hundreds of visitors and local inhabitants arrive, our little section only had four, 4x4 vehicles and two light sea craft going onto the water, break off from main shoal means smaller catch, the men quickly decided to run one net helping each other, then the second net went out after the first had been retrieved, sharing the haul equally after the fishing was done, if only every day living could be carried out considering one another.
Some forget to test the water before entering in, many unusual accidents have happened on the day, nets pulled up hitting someone, ropes pulled by vehicles laying slightly under the sand, caution is required as a looker-on.
Fishermen with rods take to the action out on a sand bank or alongside the nets, with game fish around they cast out using sardine as bait, hoping to take something bigger home on the day for the pan (yummy fresh fish like garrick or shad is really quite something to enjoy)
Let's go back to the plankton or minnows, sardines are small taking up the rear of the shoal are shark, garrick, shad, dolphins even whales enjoy feasting as the bait ball rolls through the Indian Ocean at this time of the year. (Reminds me of our whales sitting back watching the calamity among the smaller fish here on Steemit.) Sea birds (Sea Gulls, Gannets etc.) have pickings from above, game fish chasing from the rear, one great big circle of life, remember we all fit in on the food chain somewhere!
Closer to the Eastern Cape where they first show up from this is called The Greatest Shoal on Earth once you witness and experience a day on the beach you begin to understand how much feeds off of this amazing annual event. Never be ashamed of being a small fish, they too create significant change no matter how small, it all adds up.
More information about our seas and protection: http://www.shark.co.za/Pages/Sardinerun
Communities I support: @qurator @steemitbloggers @photocontests @teamsouthafrica @kryptonia@steemthat
!steemitworldmap -30.0812 lat 30.8607 long Kingsburgh Beach KZN South Africa D3SCR
