Entrainment of Antarctic euphausiids across the Antarctic Polar Front by a cold eddy

An unusual region of high meso-scale turbulence has been identified in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean. It has been shown that this is the result of eddy shedding from the Antarctic Polar Front. These eddies may dramatically affect the local distribution of marine organisms. To investigate this, the euphausiid community structure and species composition in the region of a cold eddy within the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone (APFZ) was investigated during April 2005. Water masses within the core of the eddy were typically Antarctic, showing they had come from south of the Antarctic Polar Front. Results of numerical analyses indicate that the euphausiid community within the survey area consisted of three distinct groups: those in APFZ waters, those at the edge of the eddy and those in the core of the eddy. These results indicate that eddies generated by the interaction of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current with the South-West Indian Ridge play an important role in transporting Antarctic euphausiid species equatorward, thus contributing to the spatial heterogeneity of the zooplankton community within the region.