KRILL SUCCESS!

Well, sort of.  After much work, I finally was able to find a krill swarm (a HUGE group) and net some Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba).  The swarm was pretty amazing…whales, penguins, and birds were all around feeding on it.  I have a “fishfinder” on the zodiac that shows me the depth and size of the swarm, and when I see it I try to move my plankton net through the swarm.  This is a challenging thing to do, but the fishfinder makes it a little easier — think about trying to catch a grasshopper with your eyes closed — that is what it feels like fishing for krill under the ocean!  Above is a picture of me and two other scientists in our zodiac towing the plankton net, with a penguin watching.  Anyway, I got some of these krill, and am doing experiments on how well their eyes work.  While it is great to get these “Antarctic krill”, I still need some more “bigeye krill” for my experiments.  Hopefully I can get some in the next few days.  I have one week of experiments to go before the ship comes back to pick me up!