Krill Oil Antarctic

Krill is a different conversation, for three reasons.

First, the source. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) lives in the Southern Ocean, in waters that ring the coast of Antarctica. There are no rivers carrying agricultural runoff into the Southern Ocean. There are no industrial cities upstream. There are no upstream fish for these tiny creatures to eat. Krill feed on phytoplankton — the single-celled algae that bloom across the polar summer when the ice retreats. They sit at the very bottom of the marine food chain, two trophic levels below the salmon, four below the tuna.

Second, the fishery. Since 1982 the Southern Ocean krill fishery has been managed under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources — CCAMLR — a 27-nation treaty body that sets a precautionary catch limit at roughly one percent of the standing biomass. There are good arguments to be cautious about any wild-capture fishery; the krill fishery is one of the better-managed ones we have.

Third, the chemistry. The omega-3s in krill are bound to phospholipid molecules — the same kind of molecule that makes up our own cell membranes — rather than to triglycerides as in fish oil. Astaxanthin is naturally present (100µg per softgel).

This little bottle is one quiet way to take that conversation seriously. Sixty softgels. One a day, with breakfast. Five hundred milligrams of Antarctic krill oil per softgel, providing 60mg EPA, 40mg DHA, and a hundred micrograms of astaxanthin.

A small cream pot, the green band of our label running around it, sixty softgels inside. Each softgel is a deep coral-red, almost luminous in the light — the natural colour of astaxanthin from the krill's own diet, no added dyes. The shell is made from bovine gelatin (we will be honest about that — krill oil softgels are very rarely vegan; the technology to encapsulate marine oil at this dose without gelatin is still maturing).

One softgel a day, with water, with breakfast. The pot lasts two months.

Krill are not fish. They are crustaceans — small shrimp-like animals, typically about six centimetres long when adult, with two large black eyes and bodies that are partly translucent, partly tinged red from the astaxanthin they accumulate from their algal food.

They live in vast swarms. A single super-swarm can stretch for several kilometres and be dense enough to make the water itself appear pink from the surface. They are the foundation of the entire Southern Ocean food web — the food of penguins, of seals, of whales, of squid, of seabirds. The blue whale, the largest animal ever to have lived on this planet, eats almost nothing else. A single adult blue whale will consume around four tonnes of krill on a feeding day.

This is one of the reasons the krill fishery is held to a tighter precautionary standard than most. CCAMLR's catch limit is set with the food needs of the wider Antarctic ecosystem in mind, not just the standing biomass of krill itself. The annual harvest, even at its largest, sits at less than one percent of the estimated stock — a margin most North Atlantic fisheries can only dream of.

The harvesting itself is done with what is called continuous pumping — a fine net continuously pumps krill into a sealed pipe and onto the deck of a single specialised vessel. The catch is processed within hours, sealed cold, and shipped frozen.

EPA and DHA are long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish and krill.

At 1 to 2 softgels a day this product gives 100 to 200 mg EPA+DHA; the heart claim needs 250 mg a day, so we do not make it.

What krill brings that fish oil does not is the phospholipid form — the omega-3 fatty acids are tied to phosphatidylcholine, the same molecule the body uses to build cell-membrane scaffolding.

Astaxanthin is the pigment that turns the krill red, the salmon flesh pink, and the flamingo's feathers their characteristic colour. It is produced by Haematococcus pluvialis, a microalgae, accumulates in the krill that feed on the algae, and accumulates further in the salmon and flamingo that eat the krill.

Astaxanthin is a red carotenoid pigment. A hundred micrograms per softgel is a small dose by sport-supplement standards, but it is the dose nature gave the krill.

Most supplement marketing is about the molecule. Krill oil, done honestly, is about the place. The Southern Ocean is one of the last large bodies of water on Earth to have escaped industrial-scale agricultural runoff, urban pollution, and major fish farming. A bottle of Antarctic krill oil is a strange and quiet thing — a softgel sourced four kilometres of ship and eight thousand miles of sea away from anything resembling a city.

We don't say "purest" or "cleanest" with a marketing finger pointed at the certification certificate. We say it because the maps of agricultural runoff, of microplastic concentration, of mercury bioaccumulation, all darken northward from the polar circle and lighten southward toward the ice.

One softgel a day, with water, with breakfast or another meal that contains some fat (the phospholipid form is fat-soluble). Don't take it on a completely empty stomach — like all oils, it absorbs better with food.

The pot holds sixty softgels. At one a day it lasts two months. At two a day, one month.

Not suitable if you have a fish or shellfish allergy — krill is a crustacean and the oil contains traces of crustacean protein. Not intended for use by pregnant or lactating mothers. If you take blood-thinning medication or have a coagulation disorder, speak to your GP or pharmacist before use, as omega-3 oils may have additive effects. Don't exceed two softgels a day. Keep the bottle cool, dry, sealed, out of reach of children.

The softgel shell is bovine gelatin. The product is halal-approved but not suitable for vegetarians or vegans.

If after eight weeks you see no reason to continue, stop. We would rather have your trust for the next thing than your guilt over the wrong thing.

— Vitadefence