The other day I was doing research for a project, and was trying to find information about fluctuations in the krill population.
I found countless websites that stated:
"Krill numbers may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago"
This seemed like an interesting statistic, so I went searching for the data and research. Using google I searched this quote, and found about 2 pages of results with this exact information. Many websites referenced only with "recent studies," "research has shown," or no reference at all. Even respectable websites such as National Geographic did not include any reference. The best reference I found was "Recent Studies (November 2004)."
So where was this data coming from?!
A little more searching led me to ICED Krillbase. Here I found a scientific article by Atkinson A, Siegel V, Pakhomov E and Rothery P from November 2004. This must be the location of where this mysterious krill data is coming from!
In the article I found significant data, but not once did I find anything that specifically stated "krill numbers may have decreased by 80% since the 1970s..."
There is information that shows a trend that looks like it may fit this quote; however, the data is specific to certain regions of the circumpolar ocean, and SW Atlantic (Atkinson, 2004). While a large percentage of the global krill stock is in this area, it does not include the entire global population.
While this is significant data, it has become quite twisted into something that is not necessarily true i.e. "Krill numbers may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago."
It surprised me how many times this information was used without anyone bothering to check if it was accurate, or where it came from. I do not mean to minimize the importance of the declining trend in krill density, but just to provide accurate information about these trends and where to find the data. As well as for those who are interested in where the research and data for this "krill number decline" information is from, I hope I have been able to point you in the right direction.
References:
Atkinson A, Siegel V, Pakhomov E and Rothery P. 2004. Long-term decline in krill stock and increase in salps within the Southern Ocean. Nature 432: 100-103.
Full PDF available here: http://www.iced.ac.uk/documents/Atkinson%20et%20al,%20Nature,%202004.pdf
I found countless websites that stated:
"Krill numbers may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago"
This seemed like an interesting statistic, so I went searching for the data and research. Using google I searched this quote, and found about 2 pages of results with this exact information. Many websites referenced only with "recent studies," "research has shown," or no reference at all. Even respectable websites such as National Geographic did not include any reference. The best reference I found was "Recent Studies (November 2004)."
So where was this data coming from?!
A little more searching led me to ICED Krillbase. Here I found a scientific article by Atkinson A, Siegel V, Pakhomov E and Rothery P from November 2004. This must be the location of where this mysterious krill data is coming from!
In the article I found significant data, but not once did I find anything that specifically stated "krill numbers may have decreased by 80% since the 1970s..."
There is information that shows a trend that looks like it may fit this quote; however, the data is specific to certain regions of the circumpolar ocean, and SW Atlantic (Atkinson, 2004). While a large percentage of the global krill stock is in this area, it does not include the entire global population.
While this is significant data, it has become quite twisted into something that is not necessarily true i.e. "Krill numbers may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago."
It surprised me how many times this information was used without anyone bothering to check if it was accurate, or where it came from. I do not mean to minimize the importance of the declining trend in krill density, but just to provide accurate information about these trends and where to find the data. As well as for those who are interested in where the research and data for this "krill number decline" information is from, I hope I have been able to point you in the right direction.
References:
Atkinson A, Siegel V, Pakhomov E and Rothery P. 2004. Long-term decline in krill stock and increase in salps within the Southern Ocean. Nature 432: 100-103.
Full PDF available here: http://www.iced.ac.uk/documents/Atkinson%20et%20al,%20Nature,%202004.pdf
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