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Research Objectives:
The U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) program focused on the distribution of antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in the Marguerite Bay/West Antarctic Peninsula region, as well as on environmental and ecosystem factors that are important for krill distribution. Our primary goal was to study the distribution and abundance of mysticete whales by using both visual and acoustic techniques. These data allowed us to model the rates of krill predation by whales in the study area.
In continuing our research, we hope to better understand the relationship between the physical and biological factors that affect the behavior of whales and their krill predation. To estimate the population of mysticete whales, we used passive acoustic recording of vocalizing marine mammals and assessed their abundance and distribution by a combination of bottom-mounted acoustic recorders and sonobuoys. During the 2001–2002 austral summer, eight bottom-mounted acoustic recorders were recovered and redeployed at sites in the west Antarctic Peninsula. This austral summer, we intend to recover these acoustic recorders and begin analyzing our findings.
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