An integrated, age-structured model was fitted to different combinations of survey data using two forms of selectivity (logistic or double-logistic) with time-constant or annually varying selectivity to investigate the population dynamics of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) near the Antarctic Peninsula. The

data were from surveys conducted by the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program around the South Shetland Islands from 1992 to 2011. Two indices of krill biomass based on (1) trawl-net samples and (2) hydroacoustic sampling were combined with length-compositions from the nets. Sixteen model

configurations using different combinations of the two biomass surveys with the various options for modeling selectivities were examined.

The integrated modeling framework for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) has been extended to include estimates of krill growth consistent with survey data and to use multi-nation survey data collected from 1981 to 2014 near the Antarctic Peninsula. Four models of the population dynamics of Antarctic krill in Subarea 48.1 based on different aggregations of the data are described to illustrate the capabilities of the framework.

Estimates of daily activity and consequent demand for food during winter are scarce for many polar seabirds, yet essential for assessing constraints on foraging effort, demand for food, and potential competition with local fisheries. We affixed archival temperature tags to gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) from two colonies in the South Shetland Islands to measure the frequency, timing, and duration of foraging trips and to estimate minimum food requirements during winter. Foraging trip frequencies ranged from 0.85 to 1.0 trips day-1 and were positively correlated with day length. Early winter foraging trips more closely matched day length than late winter foraging trips. The data suggest that individuals maximize foraging time during the early winter period, likely to recover body mass following the breeding season and molt. The more attenuated response of foraging trip durations to increasing day length in late winter may be related to differences in local resource availability or individual behaviors prior to the upcoming breeding season. Minimum food requirements also exhibited a seasonal cycle with a mid-winter minimum. On average, minimum food requirements were estimated at 0.70 ± 0.12 kg day-1. Extrapolated to the regional population of gentoo penguins, winter food requirements by gentoo penguins were equivalent to roughly 33% of annual krill catches by commercial fisheries in the South Shetland Island region over the past decade. Current expansion of the gentoo population and the krill fishery in the southern Scotia Sea warrants continued monitoring of gentoo penguins during winter.