AMLR Acoustic Data

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, Dana) are among the most abundant animal in the Antarctic. However, in a habitat roughly the size of England, finding them can be difficult. These important and sometimes elusive animals are the primary prey item for all of the major predators in the Southern Ocean, including humans.

The AERD has used acoustic monitoring of the productive waters around the South Shetland Islands to find and count these elusive animals since 1992, both on their daily migrations up and down through the water column and on their long-term migrations that follow the regional currents.

By tracking krill, the AERD is able to determine their relative annual abundance,

dispersion, and population density. Combined with biological and physical

oceanographic data, these acoustically-determined krill population patterns allow US scientists to understand how krill interact with their environment, and will help determine which environmental changes might impact their population size.

Completed on an annual basis, these surveys have become a critical element of the krill management decision-making process. Because these surveys have been completed annually for almost 20 years, AERD scientists are also able draw comparisons to annual changes in environmental conditions on a long-term scale. With the significant changes in the Antarctic environment occurring owing to global climate change, AERD data are a critical component of NOAAs Climate Change Program. The international community that utilizes Antarctic resources has come to rely heavily on the information provided by these acoustic surveys to monitor the effects of the krill fishery on this economically vital population, and to link these effects to changes in land-based predator populations like seals, penguins, and great whales.

The datasets incorporated into this archive have been collected by researchers affiliated with the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) Program under the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). These data are part of a long term ecosystem project centered on the South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica. Funding for this project was from the NMFS AMLR Program. Data were collected from land and ship based platforms.

Available upon request; response time varies based on data management resources available at the time of the request

Contact AMLR Point of Contact as provided in Inport

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Echosounders are calibrated to industry standards.

Echosounders are calibrated to industry standards.