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Bering Ecosystem Study 08

Hi Jillian,

I love the peace sign on deck pic and the journal about krill!

How on earth did the scientists come to find out that the eyes would be able to tell the age of the krill?

How long do the krill you are studing generally live--it seems like a long time in "captivity"? Is their lifespan usually shorter in the sea?

I guess the oval shaped one is the krill scat. Am I right?

Kristin 

Tue, 07/22/2008 - 19:36

Jillian Worssam

Hi Kristin,
Thanks for following along, you and Janet love the krill.  Ok, I just asked around a bit, and there was no difinative answer on how scientists came up with the original idea to sample eyes.  One thought was that when the krill molted, the eyes were not changed, though the krill might be shrinking or enlarging the eyes stayed a constant measure. I will work on finding a  clearer answer.  The krill we are studying live 24 hours, it is part of the research that the scientists are doing.  I have heard that in the wild krill can live up to around three years. Thus the wild krill have a bit of an advantage over our experimental krill.  And the round object was an egg sac, the long darker, elongated item was the scat, under magnification X 800.
Havea  great week!
Jillian