Antarctic Krill

I am an artist who worked in Antarctica (in 2002) with the Australian Antarctic Division's Arts Fellowship program. I am forever changed by that experience and use my art as language for understanding how living things relate to sustain the living world. In 2009 I witnessed, with scientist So Kawaguchi, the first sighting of the complete mating dance of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) on the sea floor of Antarctica, captured by chance on video when scientists were seeking images of benthos (bottom-dwelling animals). The video footage was captured at 507 m depth. As So Kawaguchi observed, this sighting was ground-breaking for helping to sustain krill populations as it reinforces the importance of protecting the ocean bottom as habitat for krill. I then became co-author of the scientific paper, 'Ocean-bottom krill sex'. The research was published with my animations in the Journal of Plankton Research in February 2010. This convinced me of the important roles that artists can play to engage policy makers in protecting the natural world that sustains us all.