click on day / night or
other details or larger image
Name:Antarctic krill (Leuchtgarnele,
Walkrebs)
Scientific name: Euphausia superba
Details: aquarell drawn from a 16
mm film imaging krill in a flume on METEOR in 1981
Status:
Dynamic: click on day night to shift
Special: drawn on the occasion of
Hempels 60th birthday, the light organs are simulated with phosphorescent
paint, the night picture is taken using a flash to charge the
paint before taking the picture
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What is the function of bioluminescence
in the ocean?
How does it help the antarctic krill?
How is it controlled in krill?General
priciples: luciferase + oxygen + ATP + luciferin = light
Hands on the experiments: (not exactly
the same chemistry as in krill but fun in the dark):
Experiment 1: mix in a vialÝ
0.1 gram of luminol and 0.1 gram of perborate in water. Go into
a really dark room and wait there for at least six minutes. Add
one crystal of copper sulfate.
Experiment 2: Measure the water
temperature to 0.1 degree precision, best with a digital meter
(ca. 10 dollar at RADIO SHACK).
Experiment 3: Record the seconds
it takes to dim to about half, about quarter and darkness again.
If you have a light meter try it, but it needs to be very sensitive
– you can build your own one with a large photocell and micro
voltmeter – what color is the light?
Experiment 4: Do the same in a small
glass dish. Place the dish in the darkroom on a piece of high
sensitive black & white photographic film or paper. Blow
over the water surface, develop the film
Experiment 5: Try out different
concentration of the substances and different temperatures. What
is the highest light emittance you can get? Use a Q-TIP to take
out some of the light, paint a krill on paper and place such
Q-TIPs at the spots where the lamps are, take a long exposure
photograph in the darkroom
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at the end of the experiments give
the leftovers to your teacher to dispose of properly (the chemicals
are not dangerous, but no chemical material should be released
into the environment if it can be avoided)
if you can not get the chemicals
we can send you a set plusÝ a little bookletÝ (good
for 30 experiments) and also take back the leftovers if you arrange
for a donation of 20 dollars
If you want your results and suggestions
to participate in our cyberSCHOOL send the data and/or a picture
to ICE CLUB 161 South Concord Terrace, Absecon NJ 08201 or email
to [email protected] – and you will receive a small award
and certificate of participation in our online OCEANOGRAPHY CLASS
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experiments without any extra equipment:
Experiment 6: turn the lights of
your room down. Take the night aquarell image into a graphic
editing program like ADOBE PHOTOSHOP or COREL PHOTO, set picture
at full monitor size. Turn down the brightness of your monitor,
wait 20 seconds, slowly turn it up again. Alternatively you can
control brightness via the programs.
Experiment 7: Add blur (best Gaussian
blur) to the image – or squeeze your eyes)
Experiment 8: copy and past a large
school together, changing also the size of the krill individuals Experiment 9: take a look into the cyberMICROSCOPE
of the KINDER UNIVERSITY to see where the lamps are mounted (to
connect click here) http://www.ecoscope.com/ecoscope.htm), the
krill tour starts in the right eyeglass, (you can find a handbook
there below the scope)
