Antarctic Fast Food

Abstract

Antarctic krill has, somewhat understandably, been outcompeted for public attention by the larger and more obvious Southern Ocean species. These animals, often referred to as the charismatic megafauna, are the icons of the region—seals, whales, and penguins and other seabirds. This attention has not always been benign; two centuries of slaughter preceded our current conservation focus in the Antarctic. Meanwhile, krill have remained obscure—despite being the preferred food for these larger (and cuddlier) animals.

An account of the food chain in Antarctic waters that omitted any mention of krill would be equivalent to an account of Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.

—Louis Joseph Halle, The Sea and the Ice: A Naturalist in Antarctica