There are limits of how much you can fish the krill, but they are not counting the effects of climate change which is turning the water more acidic, increasing water temperature, and reducing the ice cover in that region. All three of these factors contribute to the reduction of the krill population. The image below show how these factors are affecting the native population of the Antarctic Krill:

 If nothing is done and, at the same time, there is no reduction of Antarctic Krill fishing we are putting it in danger of extinction.

My proposal is that we create krill farms which will not put in danger the whole biodiversity of the Antarctic region. My entry in this competition is composed of two parts:

• A sustainable phytoplankton culture that will serve as the food for the krill (powered by solar energy)

• A sustainable refrigerated unit that will serve as the habitat for the krill (powered by solar energy)

The photos below show the phytoplankton culture experiment. This is very important on an Antarctic Krill farm because the phytoplankton is the only source of food for the krill. The objective of this experiment is to show that the production of phytoplankton is not complicated and it can be done at a low cost. This prototype is using solar energy through solar panels and batteries.

Phytoplankton is also a carbon sink, taking out Carbon dioxide dissolved in the sea water and converting it to energy which will transfer to larger animals as seen on the following diagram:

The diagram showing the phytoplankton culture powered by solar power is shown below:

Phytoplankton is also being negatively affected by climate change as seen on the two diagram below. When water temperature goes up, phytoplankton mortality increases. When carbon dioxide dissolved in the water goes up, phytoplankton mortality also increases. This is why it is important to start thinking on cultures or farms of phytoplankton on top of the krill ones:

Diatoms on the diagram below are larger phytoplankton. They are negatively affected by carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans.

This refrigeration unit, which also uses solar panels and batteries, plus the phytoplankton culture are our entry for the EnergyWhiz Critter Comfort Cottage competition. The diagram with all connections is shown below:

This refrigeration unit, which also uses solar panels and batteries, plus the phytoplankton culture are our The last prototype we have for the Antarctic Krill is also very important. On a sustainable environment, we want to be able to provide all the basic resources and water is one of them. We have created a water collector from thin air using the same principles of the refrigeration unit as seen on this picture:

The Peltier device, this time, sends the cold air to the metallic surface at the top which creates a condensation area where the water then goes down to the receptacle below the system. We also wanted to be sustainable on this prototype so we also used solar panels and solar generators to feed it.

The following video provides some additional details about our project: