Predators must consume enough prey to support costly events, such as reproduction. Meeting high energetic requirements is particularly challenging for migrating baleen whales as their feeding seasons are typically restricted to a limited temporal window and marine prey are notoriously patchy. We assessed the energetic value of the six most...
We use autonomous gas measurements to examine the metabolic balance (photosynthesis minus respiration) of coastal Antarctic waters during the spring/summer growth season. Our observations capture the development of a massive phytoplankton bloom and reveal striking variability in pCO₂ and biological oxygen saturation (ΔO₂/Ar) resulting from large shifts in community metabolism...
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is home to large breeding colonies of the ice-dependent Antarctic Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). Although the entire inner continental shelf is highly productive, with abundant phytoplankton and krill populations, penguin colonies are distributed heterogeneously along the WAP (Ducklow et al., 2013, in this issue). This ecological...
Antarctic krill are a key component of the diet of Adélie penguins inhabiting the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), yet our understanding of the variability of krill distribution patterns within nearshore penguin feeding grounds is limited. A recent study of the foraging patterns of penguins breeding in the northern WAP suggests...