ANTARCTIC KRILL

About: 

• ‘Krill’ is a general term used to describe about 85 species of free-swimming, open-ocean crustaceans known as euphausiids. 
  
  
• Antarctic krill: 
  • Pink and opaque, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is one of the 85 species of krill that lives in the Southern Ocean. 
    
    
  • It is one of the most common species in its range and it is not at risk of endangerment or extinction. Thus, it has a least concern status by IUCN. 
    
    
  • During certain times of year, krill congregate in swarms so dense and widespread that they can be seen from space. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Place in food chain: 
  • Krill feed on phytoplankton, microscopic, single-celled plants that drift near the ocean’s surface and live off carbon dioxide and the sun’s rays. 
    
    
  • They in turn are the main staple in the diets of literally hundreds of different animals, from fish, to birds, to baleen whales. 
    
    
  • Krill is also caught to make fishmeal or oil that is sold as a human health supplement. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Population: The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reckons krill are among the most abundant creatures on Earth with an estimated total of 780 trillion, excluding larvae and eggs. 
  
  
• Recent study: Waters in the southwest Atlantic, home to most krill, have warmed 1 degree Celsius over the past 90 years, and krill are concentrating into a narrowing band towards the coast of Antarctica.