Scientists to Study Krill in Antarctica

Scientists know that antarctic krill, 2 1/2-inch-long shrimplike creatures, are crucial in the food chain that sustains life in the undersea world of Antarctica. Krill are a staple for a wide range of antarctic creatures, including whales, seals, penguins and a host of other sea birds and fish.

But scientists do not know what will happen to the antarctic food chain as krill are increasingly harvested for human and livestock consumption. Nearly half a dozen countries, including the Soviet Union, Japan and Korea, harvest krill, using new technology that makes it easier to pull the creatures from the ocean.

Consequently, it is krill--and their relationship to the rest of the antarctic world--that scientists aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Surveyor will study during a five-month voyage. The Surveyor is scheduled to cast off from San Diego’s 10th Avenue Terminal today.

Three local scientists associated with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southwest Fisheries Center in La Jolla will be among the Surveyor’s dozen researchers. They are Izadore Barrett, director of science and research, and Roger Hewitt and Rennie Holt, marine biologists. Holt is also program manager of the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources program.

It will take the Surveyor a month to reach Antarctica and another month to return. Most of the scientists will fly there to meet the ship.

Data gathered during the three-month research effort will be turned over to the U.S. delegate to the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The convention is connected with the 1961 international Antarctic Treaty, in which a group of nations agreed to use Antarctica for peaceful, scientific exploration.

“The management of antarctic krill fisheries should include not only how much krill can be taken, but more importantly, where it can be taken,” Holt said. “This is because heavy areas of krill concentrations are also home to vast numbers of the animals dependent on krill for survival.”

Not surprisingly, Holt said, these same areas are the main target of krill fishermen. “Harvest of these krill . . . could impact the other animals as well,” he said. A growing international fleet of krill-harvesting vessels is being drawn to Antarctica, where scientists have observed “super swarms” of krill that cover many square miles of ocean.

Scientists on board the Surveyor will use state-of-the-art equipment to measure krill populations. They hope to chart known krill populations in order to determine how krill harvesting affects the ecosystem.

Besides studying krill, Surveyor scientists will study the feeding habits of fur seals and penguins, species that consume large quantities of krill. They also will study the microscopic algae and plants that krill feed on.