You may not realize but an unlikely hero resides in the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill. These tiny crustaceans, no larger than a paperclip, are critical to the Southern Ocean food web and feed a wide variety of species, including baleen whales, penguins, seals and many other marine wildlife, who depend on them to survive.

Antarctica's majestic great whales have long captured the fascination of researchers, but studying these ocean giants is challenging. Technology is an indispensable tool in unravelling the mysteries of these enigmatic creatures.

WWF’s Chris Johnson, and a group of whale ecologists, including Dr. Ari Friedlaender from the University of California Santa Cruz, recently made the journey to Antarctica to conduct vital research.

Research on the feeding behaviour of Antarctic minke whales found that a smaller whale could not capture enough food to survive using the lunge-feeding strategy of baleen whales.