Fig. 2: Using the past and present to guide the future of the Southern Ocean.
From: Whale recovery and the emerging human-wildlife conflict over Antarctic krill
On the left, is CCAMLR Subareas 48.1–48.4 (purple shaded region at top of inset map) before whaling where more krill would have been needed to support the prey demands of approximately 180,000 blue (at top left), fin, and humpback (bottom left) whales, in addition to other krill predators. On the right is a representation of the same region, but in the early 21st-century where a reduced krill population46,112 supports a partially recovered fin whale population (at top right), a near-fully recovered humpback whale population, an expanding krill fishery, and a still-depleted blue whale population (bottom right). We generated krill consumption estimates by combining published information on whale feeding behavior with past and present estimates of population size (see Table 1 and Supplementary Note 1 for details). The annual catch of the Antarctic krill fishery is more than the estimated annual prey demand of the current blue whale population in this region. The regions we discuss in the paper are highlighted in purple; the polar front is shown in green. Fin and humpback whale illustrations by Alex Boersma, the rest are by the authors.
