A big stranding of tiny lobsters at Te Rauone Beach in Otago Harbour could be a sign of a return to the more regular summer strandings of red krill which were more common 10 years ago.
Marine biologist and former director of the University of Otago's Portobello marine laboratory Dr John Jillet said this week's summer stranding, affecting part of the beach near Harington Point, was a much more expected event than a much bigger stranding which took place in the area last May.
Observers said the squat lobsters, Munida gregaria, were yesterday concentrated in a 50sq m area at the southwest end of the beach, and also in a 2m-wide band extending northeast along another part of the beach.
The krill seen yesterday were "an extremely important part of the food web" for many fish and birds, and penguins.
The krill that washed up this week had been living outside the harbour mouth on the nearby continental shelf but may have been sucked into the harbour about two weeks ago, before being washed up on the beach, he said.
