Krill are shrimp-like marine invertebrate animals. These small
crustaceans are important organisms of the zooplankton, particularly
as food for baleen whales, mantas, whale sharks, crabeater seals and
other seals, and a few seabird species that feed almost exclusively on
them. Krill occur in all oceans of the world. They are considered
keystone species near the bottom of the food chain because they feed
on phytoplankton and to a lesser extent zooplankton, converting these
into a form suitable for many larger animals for whom krill makes up
the largest part of their diet. In the Southern Ocean, one species,
the Antarctic Krill, Euphausia superba, makes up a biomass of over 500
million tons, roughly twice that of humans. Of this, over half is
eaten by whales, seals, penguins, squid and fish each year, and
replaced by growth and reproduction. Most krill species display large
daily vertical migrations, thus feeding predators near the surface at
night and in deeper waters during the day. Commercial fishing of krill
is done in the Southern Ocean and in the waters around Japan. The
total global harvest amounts to 150–200,000 tonnes annually, most of
this from the Scotia Sea.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krill
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX
proclaimed the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which
holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception)
1941:
World War II: Takashi Sakai and the Imperial Japanese Army invaded
Hong Kong and quickly achieved air superiority by bombing Kai Tak
Airport.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hong_Kong)
1980:
Mark David Chapman fatally shot former Beatle John Lennon outside
the Dakota apartments in New York City.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman)
1991:
Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine met to dissolve the Soviet
Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
oblation: The offering of worship, thanks etc. to a deity.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oblation)
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Wikiquote of the day:
A hero is someone who rebels or seems to rebel against the facts of
existence and seems to conquer them. Obviously that can only work at
moments. It can't be a lasting thing. That's not saying that people
shouldn't keep trying to rebel against the facts of existence.
Someday, who knows, we might conquer death, disease and war. -- Jim
Morrison
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison)