Observations were carried out in Penguin Island on 27 January 1979. The results of the birds census were as follows: Pygoscelis adeliae— 1710 pairs, P. antarclica— 7058 pairs, Macronecles giganteus—512 pairs, Oceanites oceanicus — 47 pairs, Chionis alba — 5, Stercorarius skua lonnbergi — 6 pairs, Larus dominicanus — 63 pairs, Sterna vittata—18. Other species showed different requirements as regards breeding grounds. Simultaneously the following Pinnipedia were observed on Penguin Island: Mirounga leonina — 202 specimens, Arctocephalus gazella — 48 adult and 6 young individuals, Leptonychotes weddelli — 2, Lobodon carcinophagus — 1.

The number of breeding pairs of penguins nesting in the Admiralty Bay region during the 1979/1980 summer was as follows: Pygoscelis papua — 3703, P. adeliae— 32918, P. antarctica — 8237. Due to diverse preferences in selection of the breeding-site environment and varying numerousness and structure of the colonies of these species the conditions of the outflow of faeces to the sea varied considerably. Long period records of the populations of penguin colonies around Pt. Thomas and Llano Pt. show increase in the number of breeding pairs of P. papua and P. antarctica and an increase in the number of P. adeliae at Llano Pt., while at Pt. Thomas the data approximate the records for the summer 1909.

In the 1980/1981 breeding season nesting of 9762 pairs of Pygoscelis papua, 59356 pairs of P. adeliae, 302388 pairs of P. antarctica and 1 pair of Eudyptes chrysolophus was observed in the region of King George Island. The greater part of P. antarctica rookeries was located in the hitherto unexplored cliffy coast in the northern part of the island. A hypothesis was set forth that the recent increase in penguin populations was mainly due to the retreat of glaciers and consequently the exposure of new places suitable for breeding sites.

In the region of the Admiralty Bay 12 nesting bird species were encountered of a total abundance of 40890 pairs and biomass amounting to about 395000 kg Three penguin species constituted 91.7% in abundance, their biomass constituting 98.7% of the whole community. Densities of abundance and biomass of adult birds in relation to the living area of penguins (i.e. 775 km2) ranged from 32.3 to 121.4 indiv. km-2 and from 115.1 to 4730 kg k m-2.