BIOMASS (Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Systems and Stocks) was a major multi-national scientific programme for the study of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and its living resources, with emphasis on krill (Euphausia superba). It was co-sponsored by The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) in collaboration with the International Association for Biological Oceanography and the Advisory Committee on Marine Resources Research of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

Data were collected by 34 vessels from 13 countries during 3 field experiments. The First International BIOMASS Experiment (FIBEX), November 1980 to April 1981; The Second International BIOMASS Experiment (SIBEX), Part 1, October 1983 to April 1984 and Part 2, November 1984 to April 1985.

The aim of FIBEX was to carry out a quasi-synoptic survey over a wide area the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. SIBEX 1 & 2 were designed to produce a temporal sequence of observations focused on much smaller areas of the Bransfield Strait and Prydz Bay regions.

Data were collected on krill distribution from acoustic surveys and krill population structure from net-hauls. Supporting data from ichthyoplankton net-hauls, oceanographic stations (temperature, salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll-a) and observations of sea-birds at sea were also collected.

Data were collated and standardized by the BIOMASS Data Centre, at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK. The validation and correction of the data were carried out during data analysis workshops, by the BIOMASS scientists who collected the data. The majority of the BIOMASS data have been utilized during BIOMASS workshops. However, some have not been used and must be regarded as unvalidated. The documentation accompanying the BIOMASS data set lists the known problems and validation status of the data.

At the end of the BIOMASS Programme, the BIOMASS data were made freely available to any researchers. It is not intended that any restriction be placed on the publication of scientific papers based on bona-fide academic research using the BIOMASS data set. However, for any publication, the source of the data must be acknowledged clearly and unambiguously.

The NSF-supported research icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer operates year-round in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program, carrying out global change studies in biological, chemical, physical, and oceanographic disciplines. This data set consists of underway data from leg NBP1701 on the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer. This leg started at McMurdo Station and ended at Punta Arenas, Chile.

The NSF-supported research icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer operates year-round in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program, carrying out global change studies in biological, chemical, physical, and oceanographic disciplines.

This data set consists of underway data from leg NBP1403 on the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer. This leg started at Papeete, Tahiti and ended at Hobart, Tasmania.

the regulation of the virulence factor required for infection. Nematoflustra flagelata is the first Antarctic bryozoan to be studied chemically. We obtained a halogenated metabolite of anthraquinone nature whose chemical structure is unusual among the structural models so far isolated in these organisms.