Fisheries Biologist
Fisheries Biologist: A scientist who studies fish and their prey. Collects data on krill during research vessel cruises.
Krill, a shrimplike crustacean, is a keystone species, meaning it is one of the most important links in the Antarctic food web. All the vertebrate animals in the Antarctic either eat krill or another animal that eats krill.
Krill eat mostly algae. In the winter, the only place algae can grow is on the underside of sea ice.
Several countries have been harvesting krill since the mid-1960s.
Ultraviolet radiation is harmful to krill and can even kill them. Worldwide, ozone depletion is highest over Antarctica.
Salps, which are small, marine animals that look like blobs of jelly, compete with krill for food resources. As the salt content of the ocean decreases, salps increase and the favorite food species of krill decrease.
