Today you’ll see how we operate a tucker trawl net. A tucker trawl net has three different
nets, and it samples the water column at three different levels. We’re looking at zooplankton.
Zooplankton being krill, copepods, and other gelatinous invertebrates.
The zooplankton, after it’s caught in the net, is washed down through the cod end, and then we separate
it out in the lab, count it and quantify it. This information about the quantities and quality
of the zooplankton gives us a lot of good information on the health of our marine ecosystem.
In years where we have an abundance
of krill, we also directly see a good abundance of seabirds and marine mammals. In years where
the krill is either smaller or fewer, then we will see fewer birds and fewer marine mammals.