title: Antarctic krill under sea ice: elevated abundance in a narrow band just south of ice edge.
abstract: We surveyed Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) under sea ice using the autonomous underwater vehicle Autosub-2. Krill were concentrated within a band under ice between 1 and 13 kilometers south of the ice edge. Within this band, krill densities were fivefold greater than that of open water. The under-ice environment has long been considered an important habitat for krill, but sampling difficulties have previously prevented direct observations under ice over the scale necessary for robust krill density estimation. Autosub-2 enabled us to make continuous high-resolution measurements of krill density under ice reaching 27 kilometers beyond the ice edge.
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK. andrew.brierley@st-andrews.ac.uk
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Brierley
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brandon
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: Nicholas W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Millard
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: McPhail
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Miles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pebody
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perrett
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Squires
authors.forename: Douglas G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Bone
authors.forename: Gwyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D003445:Crustacea / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D007053:Ice; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011156:Population Density; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D007053:Ice