CURRENT ABUNDANCE OF ADÉLIE PENGUIN BREEDING POPULATIONS ALONG THE KEMP AND MAC.ROBERTSON LAND COASTS, EAST ANTARCTICA: APPLICATION OF NEW SURVEY AND ESTIMATION METHODS FOR BROAD-SCALE POPULATION ASSESSMENT

Application of new methods for estimating the abundance of breeding Adélie penguin populations along the Kemp and Mac.Robertson Land coasts of east Antarctica are described. Methods include use of sample survey designs, distance sampling to estimate detectability, virtual delineation of sample plot boundaries, cameras to collect adjustment data and adjustment of counts for detectability and availability using ICESCAPE software. The surveys revealed a considerably larger population of Adélie penguins breeding in this region than was previously known. The larger population estimates are at least partly due to surveying previously unsearched or undocumented areas, but are also likely be due to real increases in the populations since previous surveys were conducted in the 1980s.