Examined Eudyptes chrysolophus, Arctocephalus gazella and their zooplankton prey, in particular Antarctic krill Euphausia superba in February 1986. Antarctic fur seals and macaroni penguins showed positive correlations with Antarctic krill density across a wide range of spatial scales. When the influences of distance and direction on predator abundance were factored out, the authors were able to demonstrate an influence of Antarctic krill abundance at measurement scales between 10-100 km for Antarctic fur seals and for macaroni penguins at the scale of 70-100 km. Water depth was an important correlate of Antarctic krill and Antarctic fur seal abundances but not of the abundance of macaroni penguins. -from Authors

We studied the distribution and abundance of marine birds in Bransfield Strait and southern Drake Passage during January and February 1985. We identified clusters of bird species, "communities" with similar distributions, and examined the extent to which the distributions of these seabird communities reflected the underlying physical oceanography of the region. Based on temperature, salinity and silicon data, we identified 11 water masses which resulted from varying degrees of mixing of water from the Pacific Basin, the Bellingshausen Sea, the Weddell Sea and terrestrial runoff. Seabird species assemblages were associated with contiguous clusters of water masses, suggesting a response by the birds to apparently subtle differences in their marine habitat. © 1990.