Incident of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) mass infection near the coasts of South Georgia Island (Subarea 48.3)

In the north-eastern part of South Georgia Island shelf (Subarea 48.3) on 30 July 2001 for the first time we found out young and mature antarctic krill Euphasia superba individuals affected by the disease that had not been described earlier. In the period of winter and spring some males and females Euphasia superba of all size groups - from 27 to 52 cm - were affected. From winter to spring the percentage of krill invasion increased 2.3 times. In shelf zone and on the continental slope of the South Georgia Island northern part, where definite currents provided for isolation of krill aggregations, affected individuals occurred everywhere.