Many procellariiforms or "tube-nosed" seabirds (i.e., the petrels, albatrosses and shearwaters) forage over vast expanses of featureless ocean waters in search of a patchily-distributed food resource, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). These birds have highly developed olfactory systems and are attracted to fishy-smelling odors. Recent work has also shown that several Antarctic species are attracted to dimethyl sulfide, an odor associated with high primary productivity. It has been proposed that DMS and other natural aromatics make up an olfactory landscape over the ocean that seabirds use to forage. The peaks and valleys of this landscape provide birds with detailed, instantaneous information about whether they are in areas where they are likely to find food. Although there has been intensive work investigating one component of this landscape (DMS), detailed studies about other potential olfactory cues more closely associated with krill are lacking. It is not known, for example, whether Antarctic procellariiform seabirds can smell krill directly, but this information is necessary to develop models of olfactory foraging on a broader scale.This framework will be critical in exploring how changes in krill distribution and density might affect the foraging success of seabirds over multi-year studies - questions pertinent to long-term management. The objective of this study is to investigate species-specific differences in olfactory responses by Antarctic procellariiform seabirds to krill-related odors. This work will be conducted in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Peleagic Exosystems Core Program. This is a multi-year ecological study being carried out near South Georgia where procellariiform seabirds have been closely monitored. Olfactory data will thus be linked to real time diet sampling being done locally at Bird Island near South Georgia, and will be used to assist in developing strategies for the management and exploitation of marine resources in the area.
