STEAM Education Link V

Did you miss the first WORLD KRILL DAY on 11 August 2022?

I did!

Never mind, I picked up this story six days late thanks to the article by Nicole Bransome in ecomagazine (Environment Coastal & Offshore).

Why should we think about krill at all?

Well, to me, krill brings it all together:

• krill feeds whales, penguins and many other iconic animals we care about
• krill is a keystone species in many ecosystems and a great place to start getting your head around ocean food webs
• krill is important for climate regulation (!) through their own feeding and pooing, as well as their role in contributing to whale poop (!) by being their food source.
• krill is in danger of being over-fished for a variety of uses, from animal food to dietary supplements
• krill is fascinating 🙂 and, together with our oceans in general, needs protection, so that the whole of the ocean ecosystem continues to provide us with the oxygen we breathe, the ocean circulation we are used to and the climate that allows us to exist

P.S. If you are interested in marine science, technology and engineering, you can subscribe for free to ecomagazine. I find their special issues particularly interesting, for example the one of Marine Mammals 2022.

Featured Image: Antarctic Krill. Part of the image “Antarktický krill” by Norkrill is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0  Creative Commons.