Density Estimation of Antarctic Krill in the South Shetland Island (Subarea 48.1) Using dB-Difference Method

• Main Authors: Seok-Gwan Choi, Jinho Chae, Sangdeuk Chung, Wooseok Oh, Euna Yoon, Gunhee Sung, Kyounghoon Lee
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5701/pdf; https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5701/

This study is aimed to estimate the density of Antarctic krill that inhabit in the area around South Shetland Island by using a dB-difference method. An acoustic survey was conducted from 13 to 24 April in 2016 in the sea of South Shetland. Acoustic data on frequency 38 and 120 kHz were collected. The Antarctic krill echo was extracted for the S V120-38 kHz range of 0.4–14.3 dB, which was obtained by applying the size of the collected Antarctic krill in this study (25–60 mm). The mean Antarctic krill density across the survey area was 33.65 g m −2 (CV = 45.97%). Antarctic krill; acoustic survey; scientific echosounder; dB difference; biomass