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The food web in the Ross Sea

Diagram showing how the food web in the Ross Sea works.

This diagram shows how the food web in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, works. The arrows represent the energy flow and go from prey species (these get eaten) to predators (the hunters).

Notes: Baleen whales use baleen plates in their mouths to sieve plankton, krill and small fish from the water. Toothed whales have teeth for capturing prey. Krill is the dominant zooplankton species in the Ross Sea.

Skua (flying birds), phalder, 123RF Ltd; Adélie penguin, rhallam/123RF Ltd; Seal, Isselee/123RF Ltd; Fishing trawler,  K_Stuart/123RF Ltd; Krill, Uwe Kils, CC BY-SA 3.0; Humpback whale (Baleen whale), Charles J Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0; Sperm whale (Toothed whales), Gabriel Barathieu, CC BY-SA 2.0; Phytoplankton, Public domain; Silverfish, martin_glhf, CC BY-NC 4.0, sourced from iNaturalistNZ; Toothfish, NOAA, Public domain; Zooplankton, Public domain; Flying squid, Darren Stevens, CC BY 3.0; Bacteria, Ivo Sedláček, CC BY 4.0; Benthic invertebrates, NIWA, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; Ocellated icefish (Fish), Public domain.

Based on an original diagram by M. Pinkerton for NIWA.

Download a PDF version here.

Glossary

Rights: The University of Waikato, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
Published: 24 September 2015Updated: 4 June 2025Size: 955.81 KB
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