8 Facts That Prove Krill Are More Than Just Tiny Shrimp

The smallest shrimp feed the worlds largest animals, the entire Antarctic ecosystem and can entertain us like few other animals do.

1. Krill swim in swarms that can stretch out over kilometers

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these 2.5" creatures gather together in billions to form dense swarms that can have over a 1,000 krill per cubic meter

2. Krill Made 1,000s of kids laugh when they were the surprise stars of Happy Feet 2

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Brad Pitt and Matt Damon played Will and Bill the krill who leave their swarm to learn about life outside of it.

3. Young krill survive the deep and dark depths of the southern ocean on their own

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krill hatch at 3,000 meters depth and spend their first 3 weeks on earth swimming towards the surface with little to no food.

4. The entire Antarctic ecosystem depends on krill

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17 species of penguins, 8 species of whales, 6 species of whales, many different sea birds plus a large variety of fish and squid species eat krill as a main food source. Together they devour about 150 million tons of krill a year.

5. A single whale can eat up to 4 tons of krill a day

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(watch video as of 1:15) In Norwegian "krill" means whale food, perfect considering that that is their main job description.

6. Krill have the largest population of any species on the planet

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Scientists estimate that there are about 500 million tons of krill in the world, that's more than the weight of all humans combined. Considering they only weight 2 grams, krill have an estimated population size of 250 trillion individuals. Yet even this is only a fraction of its historic population

7. Krill oil is an amazing health supplement

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Krill oil is a great source of Omega-3 which helps to reduce cholesterol, lessen pain from arthritis, act as an antidepressant and improve cardiovascular circulation among many other health benefits. It is also said to be much healthier than fish oil, its competing product.