Researchers at Stanford are raising concerns about a popular health food product that could be impacting the recovery of whale populations.
They say it's creating a competition for an ingredient the whales also need to survive.
Shop online or at local health food stores, and you're likely to find nutritional supplements advertising Antarctic krill.
While the tiny shrimp-like creatures are rich in omega-3 fatty acid, they're also a critical food source for blue whales, humpbacks and other species. And now, Stanford researchers believe that over-fishing of krill may be putting populations under pressure.
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"So, if you draw a line straight south of South America until you hit Antarctica, that's about where in the southern ocean we're fishing for krill. And it's also where the most whales were hunted in all of the world, actually," said marine researcher Matthew Savoca, Ph.D of Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability.
Savoca said the dwindling whale populations in the southern ocean finally began to recover after whaling moratorium went into effect in the 1980s. But since that time, demand for krill products has quadrupled.
"So, the fact that we're competing with whales for things like omega-3 supplements is kind of, I think, silly in my opinion. The last thing, which is also similarly kind of strange, is we're using it for fishmeal, so to feed farmed fish," he said.
Earlier research at Stanford discovered that whales consume more krill to survive than previously believed, and both organisms are part of a delicately balanced ecosystem.
Marine researcher Cassandra Brooks, Ph.D., also participated in the study and said the Antarctic can be a difficult and demanding environment to manage.
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"And we have this incredible moment where they are recovering. It's this incredible moment of hope, showing that if you stop fishing something or you manage it well, the system can actually recover," she said.
The team is hoping that consumers will ultimately pressure manufacturers using krill to support a sustainable fishery that ensures enough food for a recovering whale population.
"Is that the type of sort of product chain that you want to support? And, you know, I don't necessarily want to push people in one direction to the other. I think we should all make up our own minds on this. But yeah, I think just informing people so that they can make educated decisions as consumers," Savoca said.
The study also offers several suggestions, including not targeting krill populations during spawning to help bolster their population.