Along the North Sea coast of Britain they have been getting smaller as the zooplankton that they eat decline, and the effects are being felt through the entire food web.
Not plankton, but fond of plankton! Sandeels, known as sand lances in North America (family Ammodytidae), are slender, silvery fish that are a crucial food source for many seabirds, whales, and bigger fish like cod and salmon. They like to hide in the sand for much of the year, emerging in daytime in spring and summer to feed on copepods and other zooplankton.
Peter and Neil designed this sandeel for the Mapping Ocean Change through Art project. It works well from any square of paper with a contrasting colour on the back, including supermarket food magazines.
You can download complete folding instructions by Peter here.
