Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article
Antarctic krill is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 individual animals per cubic meter. It feeds directly on minute phytoplankton, thereby using the primary production energy that the phytoplankton originally derived from the sun in order to sustain their open ocean life cycle.
It is a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem and is, in terms of biomass, probably the most abundant animal species on the planet (approximately 500 million tonnes, corresponding to 300 to 400 trillion individuals). In 2019, the Antarctic krill was featured on a stamp of Westarctica to celebrate its role as a vital part of the Antarctic ecosystem.