I’ve spent a lot of time on the ocean during the Sardine Run and I’ve learned that the best encounters are usually the ones you never see coming.
This happened during one of our Go Dive Sardine Run expeditions near Cintsa on the Wild Coast, and honestly, I still struggle to explain just how surreal it felt.
Earlier that morning, our shore-based spotters informed us that there was a pod of orcas moving north of Cintsa near Morgans Bay. That immediately got our attention because orcas on the Sardine Run are already rare enough, but they usually mean something interesting is happening.
We ran up the coast expecting maybe a quick sighting in the distance if we were lucky.
When we arrived in the area, we spotted the orcas far off on the horizon. Before we could even move closer, the ocean around us suddenly exploded into life.
Out of nowhere, 4 or 5 Shepherd’s Beaked Whales surfaced around the boat.
Not far away… literally around us.
Most people will never see a Shepherd’s Beaked Whale in their entire lives. They’re one of those deep-water species that even experienced skippers and marine biologists rarely encounter properly. And here we suddenly had an entire pod surfacing repeatedly right next to the boat.
At that point the orcas were still approaching, and it became pretty obvious that we might be watching a predation event unfold.
We immediately backed off and tried to give the whales space. The last thing we wanted to do was interfere with whatever was happening naturally.
But then something strange happened.
The beaked whales stayed with us.
Every time we sped up, they sped up. When we changed direction, they changed direction. They kept surfacing near the boat as if they were deliberately trying to stay close to us.
For about five minutes the entire situation felt completely unreal. You could feel the tension on the boat because everyone understood how rare this was and nobody really knew what was going to happen next.
Eventually we realised the orcas had either made a kill or simply abandoned the hunt because the whales slowed and seemed to relax. Their behaviour changed and the pressure suddenly disappeared.
The whales stayed with us for a while longer before eventually slipping back into the deep.
I’ve seen bait balls with countless dolphins. I’ve seen sharks boiling through sardines. I’ve seen humpbacks breaching around the boat and orcas feeding during the Sardine Run.
But this encounter was different.
There’s something about seeing an animal that rare, that intelligent staying with you and using your small RIB as cover, that really sticks with you.
One of the things that makes the Sardine Run around Cintsa and the Wild Coast so special is that it still feels wild. It’s not overcrowded and over-commercialised like some other Sardine Run locations can become during peak periods.
When rare encounters happen here, there aren’t 20 boats queued around the animals. There’s no chaos, no pressure and very little human interference. Sometimes it’s just your boat, the ocean and whatever nature decides to throw at you that day.
I honestly think that’s a huge reason why we see such natural behaviour and such unusual species in this area.
The deep water off Cintsa seems to produce encounters that constantly surprise us. Every year we see things that remind me how little we actually know about what’s happening beneath the surface during the Sardine Run.
People often ask me what the “best” Sardine Run location is in South Africa.
After encounters like this, it’s hard not to believe the Wild Coast deserves to be part of that conversation.
Because sometimes you head out looking for orcas… and end up surrounded by one of the rarest whales on Earth instead. – Elton Polly