Krill

Hello there! My name might be small, but my family is enormous. I am a krill, a little shrimp-like creature swimming in the chilly, deep blue waters of the Southern Ocean. If you saw me by myself, you might not think I was very special. I’m only a few centimeters long, with big black eyes and a body you can see right through. But I am almost never alone. I live my life as part of a swarm, a giant, swirling cloud of my brothers and sisters. There are millions, sometimes even billions, of us moving together as one. It feels like being part of a massive, underwater dance that never ends. We twist and turn through the currents, a shimmering pink and orange river of life. While I am tiny, our combined weight makes us one of the biggest groups of animals on the entire planet. It’s amazing to think about. Long ago, in the year 1852, scientists who studied us gave my family a very fancy name: Euphausiacea. It’s a big word for a little creature like me, but it reminds me that even the smallest beings are an important part of this world.

My life began as a tiny egg, sinking far down into the dark, cold depths of the ocean. After I hatched, my journey was all about swimming up, up, up toward the light at the surface. As I grew, I had to shed my see-through skin over and over again. This is called molting, and it’s how I make room to get bigger. It’s like getting a new set of clothes each time I grow! The closer I got to the surface, the more I learned about my amazing secret ability: I can glow in the dark. All along my body, I have special light-up organs called photophores. When we are all together in the deep, dark water, we can flash these lights to talk to each other. It’s our own secret code, a silent language of light that helps keep our swarm together. My favorite thing to do is eat. I swim through the water with my front legs creating a little basket to catch my food. I eat tiny plants called phytoplankton. My favorite place to find them is underneath the massive sheets of sea ice that float on the ocean’s surface. They grow there in huge numbers, making it the perfect place for a hungry krill like me to find a delicious dinner.

I have a very important job in the ocean. You could call me the keeper of the Antarctic food web, or as I like to say, I'm part of Antarctica's favorite snack! Scientists call creatures like me a keystone species, which means that without us, everything else would have a very hard time surviving. I am proud of my role. I happily provide the energy for some of the most amazing animals in the world. When a gigantic blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, needs a meal, it scoops up thousands of us in one gulp. When playful penguins zip through the water, they are looking for us to give them the energy to swim and care for their chicks. Sleek seals also depend on my family for their meals, chasing us through the currents. It’s not a scary thing to be the ocean's buffet; it’s an honor. We help these incredible animals thrive. Around the year 1925, scientists on big research ships began a series of trips called the Discovery Investigations. It was during these journeys that they truly began to understand just how critical we are. They realized that the health of the entire Antarctic ecosystem rests on the tiny shoulders of krill like me.

Even though there are billions of us, my family and I face some big challenges. The ocean is changing. Our home is getting warmer, and the sea ice we depend on is starting to melt. Remember how I told you my favorite food, phytoplankton, grows on the underside of that ice? Well, when the ice disappears, so does our food source. This makes it much harder for us to find enough to eat. But there is hope for us. People all over the world are learning how important we are and are working to protect us. In 1982, many countries agreed to form a group called the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR. This group sets rules to make sure that fishing for krill is done carefully so that there will always be enough of us to go around. Protecting tiny creatures like me is a big deal. When you help us, you help keep the entire ocean healthy and strong for everyone, from the smallest plankton to the biggest whale.