Transcript

Krill

DR. DAVID ROBINSON: This huge net is being used to trawl the polar seas for krill, as part of a research programme. In the folds at the bottom of the net are thousands of these prawn-like crustaceans. Krill are a key component of the main food web in the southern oceans.

MALE SPEAKER 1: Do you want me to--

MALE SPEAKER 2: In the net too.

MALE SPEAKER 1: Yeah.

MALE SPEAKER 2: I think there'll be more water on deck tomorrow morning.

DR. DAVID ROBINSON: They're an essential source of food for numerous animals, from fish and birds to the largest of the whales, the blue whale. In recent years, krill have even been harvested commercially.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah.

MALE SPEAKER 3: Is there anything on that or is it just a surface layer of krill?

DR. DAVID ROBINSON: Sorting the sample is a painstaking task, as the scientists pick out individual krill to place them in trays for later analysis.