krill

Everyday

Krill are tiny shrimp-like sea animals that live in huge groups in cold oceans and are food for whales, penguins, seals, fish and seabirds. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons on food chains, krill are a key link: they eat tiny plankton and are eaten by many bigger animals; a blue whale eats tonnes of krill a day. Krill live especially in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. They show how the smallest animals can hold up a whole food web.

Examples

• Blue whales eat millions of krill. tree →
• Krill are tiny animals that look like shrimp. tree →
• Penguins in Antarctica feed on krill. tree →
• Krill eat plankton, and whales eat krill. tree →
• Huge swarms of krill can turn the sea pink. tree →
• If krill disappeared, many sea animals would go hungry. tree →

Note

Same form for one and many: «one krill, a lot of krill». Krill are invertebrates (crustaceans), not fish. In a food chain: plankton → krill → whale.