Antarctic seabirds and its relationship with krill (Euphausia superba). ANTAR XXI

Abstract

Seabird observations were made simultaneusly during the 3 main experiments carried out by the scientific mission ANTAR XXI: i) krill’s swarms behaviour experiment, ii) demersal cruise and iii) pelagic cruise assessment of krill in the area between Bransfield Strait and the south of Elephant island. 508 individuals from 17 species and 5 families were recorded. The chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica 25.54%), the wilson storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus 23.18%), the southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus 8.45%) and brown skua (Catharacta antarctica 8.45%) accounted for 65.62% of the observations. High correlation between the abundance of krill and southern giant petrel was observed on a small scale; but not observed the same pattern when assessing the abundance of krill with the total abundance of seabirds. During the krill’s swarms behaviour experiment was found there is a correlation between the depth of krill swarms and penguin chinstrap abundance.