Krill look like small shrimps, but they only become 5cm long and weigh 2g. But despite of their size they’re probably the most important animal in the Antarctic ecosystem as food for whale, penguins, squid, seal, seabirds and fish.

The krill is by many reckoned to be one of the most numerous animals on earth. It spends most of its 5-7 years long life in large steams that cover several km in each direction, with up to 30 000 krill per cubic meter.
The krill lives pelagic, and moves up and down the water pillar. It goes deep to avoid being eaten by day, and goes up to eat plankton by night.

Two kilometres straight up

One krill can produce 10 000 eggs in the Artic summer, which is in January – February. We believe that the eggs sink 2 000 metres before they are hatched. After they are hatched the larvas begin their long trip for up to ten days to the surface to eat. The krill’s grow by changing shell. It gets rid of the old shell and expands while the new shell is still soft.

The krill eats both animal and plant plankton. Studies has shown that the krill can survive for 200days with no food by lowering their combustion and shrink – which is unique for the Krill.

What about the climate changes?

The krill is under a lot of pressure both from a growing fishing industry and the climate changes. The nutrient chain in Antarctica is short, and dramatic changes will have huge consequences for the other species.

A powerful resource

Antarctic krill is managed and regulated by the organisation CCAMLR (Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources)
For almost 40 years the Antarctic krill fishing has been the largest fishing in the southern ice sea, and Russia, Japan, Chile, South Korea, Poland and Norway are important actors. From the year 1990 to 2000 about 100 000 tons of krill was fished every year. This number has only grown since then.

Krill facts

Krill oil contains astaxanthin, which is considered the nature’s strongest antioxidant. Antioxidants protect the cells in our bodies from so called free oxygenradicales and can therefore prevent cancer and heart diseases.
Krill reduce the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. It is presumed that the amount of CO2 that is transferred to the seabed from the krill is about the same as the yearly emission from 35 million cars. The crap eating seal has developed teeth especially for capturing krill. And their diet consists of 98% krill.