Pygoscelis penguin colonies census in the Vernadsky Antarctic station area (Statistical Subarea 48.1)

The Pygoscelis penguin colonies census in the Vernadsky Antarctic station area has been provided during 2017-2018 breeding season. The Pygoscelis penguins in the region of research are mainly gentoo penguin, which has formed 14 autonomous colonies with about 13320 of breeding pairs total and about 780 immature penguins. The Adelie specie is much less common in the area and formed 8 nesting colonies with 5300 nesting pairs and 800 immature penguins. Inside of the Adelie penguin specie family, there is significantly higher percentage of birds which not involved in the reproduction process. This fact, to some extent, probably explains the depression of the world population of the Adelie specie, which has been observed throughout the area during recent years. The nesting of the Antarctic penguin in the region of research should be considered a sporadic settlement at a considerable distance from the main range. The gentoo penguin colony at the Green Island possibly could be the southernmost points of the nesting habitat of this specie.