LA JOLLA, Calif. — Research from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered a connection between anchovy larvae and their diets that could help explain the booms and busts of the northern anchovy population.

Scripps Associate Project scientist Rasmus Swalethorp says the ups and down of the anchovy numbers are synonymous with the population that is a crucial food source for marine mammals in the ocean such as sea lions, dolphins, whales, bluefin tuna, and more.

By looking at amino acids in anchovy larvae, Swalesthorp and a team of scientists discovered that when anchovies ate from lower in the food chain and that food source was abundant, the population tended to have a boom.

NOAA Southwest Fishery Science Center Research Fish Biologist Andrew Thompson says the research also relied on an archive of fish that goes back 70 years. He says with the help of the archive and modern technology, “we were able to trace the abundance of adults to the survival of larvae.”

You can learn more about the research here.