Following the Food By Dr. Kim Bernard Oregon State University

What CONVERGE research mission question is this answering? Where are the krill and why are they there?

What are krill? They are zooplankton – which means that they are small drifting animals living in the ocean They look a lot like shrimp They can grow to about 2 inches long

Why are krill important? Krill are important in the food chain of Antarctica They feed on phytoplankton (small drifting algae) and they are eaten by Adélie penguins Adélie penguins Krill Phytoplankton

How do we find the krill? Using sound waves – acoustics The sound waves are sent from an echo sounder

How does the acoustic technique work?

Here’s how a school of krill look on an echo sounder… Sea floor Krill

Krill form schools, like some fish…

What else are we looking at? We are also looking at the environment, the ocean We have an instrument that measures the temperature and salinity (saltiness) of the seawater and another one that measures the amount of phytoplankton (the krill’s food)

How do we do all of this?

How are these methods answering that question? “Where are the krill?” – By using acoustics we can find where the krill are “Why are they there?” – Then, with other instruments we can look at the kind of environment the krill are in, and try to understand why they are there

What kinds of results are we getting?

How do these results connect to the big picture? We can start to identify areas where the krill are often found We can link these with areas where the penguins are often feeding We can also link these with areas where tidal currents are converging or diverging If we know where the krill are and why they are there, we can start to understand more about the penguins