Preliminary report on the South Orkneys Ecosystem Studies (SOES) field work undertaken by RRS James Clark Ross (JR15004) and associated field camps in January–February 2016

This paper briefly describes the rationale and structure of the research cruise that formed a key component of the co-ordinated, multi-national South Orkney Ecosystems Studies focusing on the krill-based ecosystem in the main fishing area in Subarea 48 undertaken in the austral summer of 2015-16. The research cruise consisted of collection of at-sea data on the distribution, abundance and behaviour of krill and its predators across a range of temporal and spatial scales using acoustics, nets and cameras. The research vessel data are linked to complementary studies undertaken from a commercial fishing vessel and field camps on Monroe Island, Powell Island and at Signy where satellite tracking of penguins and fur seals was undertaken. Taken together these data sets and the expected outputs will provide key information on important interactions between krill, krill predators and the commercial fishery that will be an important contribution to developing feedback management strategies.