This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of chinstrap penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1997 to 2020. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and an annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR CEMP Standards Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of gentoo penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1998 to 2010. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR CEMP Standard Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

This dataset captures information on the diet composition and mass of Adelie penguin stomach contents at Signy Island, from 1997 to 2020. The monitoring period occurred over four weeks each year and involved sampling adults returning to feed their chicks during the creche period. Sampling took place approximately every five days. Numbers of birds sampled on each occasion varied over the entire period of the dataset from a maximum of eight to a minimum of six, equating to an annual maximum of forty birds and an annual minimum of thirty, depending on the year. All adult penguins were sampled on their return to the colony using the stomach lavage methodology specified in CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) Standard Methods A8A. The stomach samples were then weighed and categorised into krill, cephalopods, fish and non-food and identified to species level where possible. Krill carapaces and otoliths were removed and measured. Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

The KRILLBASE-length frequency database comprises individual length measurements of 613487 Euphausia superba from 6470 scientific net hauls. Some of these individually-measured krill have additional information on their sex and maturity stage. Most of these E. superba are postlarvae, but some of the hauls include small (< 20 mm) krill which likely include furcilia larvae as well as juveniles. Much of these data were compiled at British Antarctic Survey in 2007 by Mark Jessopp, with additional compilation by Angus Atkinson, Catherine Brewster and Natalie Ensor, and later data checking by Angus Atkinson with Helen Peat. The circumpolar distribution of records is illustrated in the file KRILLBASE_LF_DISTRIBUTION that is available along with this dataset. Examples of uses of KRILLBASE-length frequency are in Atkinson et al. (2009), Tarling et al. (2016), Perry et al. (2019) and Atkinson et al. (2019). The KRILLBASE-length frequency records were provided by contributing authors of the database or transcribed from the literature or from other institutional databases. At the time of data compilation, data from commercial-size large mesh trawls and from the commercial fishery was also transcribed, providing valuable information on the larger krill caught by these nets. These data are not included in this current KRILLBASE-length frequency database version, because of the difficulty in comparing them with the finer mesh scientific nets compiled here, and because length and population structure are also available in more complete form from CCAMLR. The KRILLBASE-length frequency database forms a complementary database to the KRILLBASE-abundance database (doi:10.5285/8b00a915-94e3-4a04-a903-dd4956346439), which compiles the abundance of Euphausia superba and salps in the Southern Ocean (Atkinson et al 2017). Both databases are multi-national, circumpolar compilations of net samples spanning years 1926 to 2016. The KRILLBASE-length frequency database uses some of the stations as KRILLBASE-abundance but also additional ones from targeted hauls or horizontal hauls.

This dataset contains processed acoustic backscatter data that reflect integrated density estimates for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The acoustic backscatter data are from the Western Core Box (WCB), comprising 8 acoustic transects that span the shelf-break at South Georgia. The data were obtained from a time series of 22 cruises carried out between 1996/97 and 2019/20. Data were collected using either a Simrad EK500 or EK60 echo sounder by biological oceanographers working at the British Antarctic Survey under the Ecosystems scientific research programme and predecessor Discovery 2010 and Dynamo research programmes. Funding was provided by the NERC/BAS Antarctic, Logistic, Infrastructure (ALI) Science and predecessor Long Term Monitoring Science research programmes.

This dataset contains reflectance spectra measurements of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) that were sampled from the Scotia Sea in the Southern Ocean. Reflectance measurements were made on board on freshly caught krill, using a spectroradiometer. A number of these reflectance experiments were carried out across different regions of the Scotia Sea, on male, female and juvenile krill. Reflectance measurements are given for krill in both in situ and filtered seawater, as well as for water without krill. Data are presented in terms of remote sensing reflectance (Rrs). Funding for the work was primarily through a bursary awarded to Anna Belcher from Antarctic Science Ltd. Additionally, funding from the BAS ecosystems programme supported the project. The Natural Environment Research Council Field Spectroscopy Facility (NERC FSF) loaned the equipment required to carry out this research.

Mesozooplankton was collected with a vertically hauled Nansen 70V net in the Gerlache Strait and vicinity of Anvers Island. The net was deployed to a maximum depth of 50 m through hand-hauling. Specimens were preserved in 4% buffered formalin. Analysis was carried out through light microscopy of the entire sample, and specimens identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level including the identification of developmental stages. Sampling was carried out as part of the REQUEST2021 T.A.S.K. (The Antarctica Scout Krill) project. The Nansen net was provided by the British Antarctic Survey as in-kind support. Sample analysis was carried out by Dr. Peter Ward, an e-fellow at BAS. REQUEST2021 was an official expedition of Kent Scouts (a county of the UK Scout Association), with further support from charitable donations.