The backbone of the Southern Ocean food chain is threatened by changes in the waters caused by global warming.

Krill is the key food source for penguins, seals, fish, and whales in the southern ocean.  But oceans absorb as much as a third of the CO2 produced by our burning of fossil fuels, resulting in more acidic seas. 

Tests conducted by government laboratories in Hobart show that the Krill’s reproductive behavior changes as oceans become more acidic.  Krill eggs sink much deeper in the ocean, and there are doubts whether hatchlings would even have the ability to swim back to the surface to feed and become food themselves for the larger species.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is meeting in Germany right now to decide if the Southern Ocean should become the world’s biggest marine sanctuary.