Soccer World Cup tickets allocated to South Africans
A total of 120 000 category 4 tickets are being donated to helpers of the Soccer World Cup and South Africans who cannot afford the to see a live game.
This initiative of the FIFA World Cup organizing committee was announced on the 14th February 2009, 300 days before the opening of the game. It came to light recently as hundreds of Soccer stadium construction workers danced in the streets on a cold day blowing their vuvuzelas to celebrate that they will be part of the Soccer Cup games. 54 000 of the 120 000 tickets were given away went to the construction workers involved in the Stadium building. The rest of the tickets were given to the thousands of South Africans involved in programmes encouraging football participation and community-orientated initiatives linked to the tournament.
.CEO of the Organizing committee, Danny Jordaan, says they are doing all they can to ensure South Africans are well represented in the stadiums with their vibrancy and spirit.
But this is not the only advantage of the Ticket Fund. It also aims to use soccer passion and excitement as a tool to encourage the South African youth on topics such as health, education and the environment. The FIFA partners; Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai, Sony and Visa will partnership with the Department of Education. To encourage schoolchildren to participate in soccer and educational activities, recycling programmes, health programmes in the poorest communities, combating HIV and Aids and basic financial skills for low-income workers
"The Greatest Shoal On Earth" is here!
The sardine run occurs between May and July when millions of sardines (the Southern African pilchard) move northward along the east coast of South Africa, better known as the Wild Coast. Their sheer numbers create a feeding frenzy along the coastline.
In terms of biomass, researchers estimate the sardine run could rival East Africa's great Wildebeest migration. However, little is known of the phenomenon except that for the scuba diver, this is indeed the greatest dive show on earth. Even snorkeling or watching from the boat over this time is a spectacular experience. And, of course, for an underwater photographer there are amazing opportunities.
The shoals of sardines are often more than 7 km long, 1.5 km wide and 30 meters deep and are clearly visible from spotter planes or from the surface of the ocean.
Sardines group together when they are threatened. This instinctual behaviour is a defense mechanism, as lone individuals are more likely to be eaten than large groups. These bait balls can be 10–20 metres in diameter and extend to a depth of 10 metres. The bait balls are short lived and seldom last longer than 10 minutes.
Dolphins (estimated as being up to 18,000 in number during the Sardine run), mostly the common dolphin but also the bottlenose are largely responsible for rounding up the sardines into bait balls.
What makes this such a spectacular show is not simply the gigantic waves of silvery sardines but these legions of predators that congregate en masse just off the east coast of South Africa in anticipation of the year's greatest feast. As a result the waters of the Wild Coast boil with sharks, dolphins, Cape Gannets (diving into the water like torpedoes), cormorants, seals, and even, on occasion, Orcas, albatross and penguins that have followed the Sardines thousands of kilometres from the southern ocean. The Sardine Run also coincides with the annual migration of Humpback Whales that move north for the season into warmer water to mate and calve.
Wild-life film producer Peter Lamberti has dubbed "The Greatest Shoal on Earth"
Whale Season is starting July, Cape Town, running until December - click here for details
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