Summary

Penguins are significant marine recourses with a substantial economic effect by the reason of the increasing Antarctic tourism. Gentoos are important organisms in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. They accumulate the changes occurring in the lower levels of the trophic pyramid and they are used as long-term indicators for environmental changes connected with human impact. Comparative biological and monitoring investigations will be realized for their long term conservation as a biological resource. Different aspects of anthropogenic influence will be investigated. This impact has a complex nature and requires applying of multidisciplinary approach. At the same time different aspects of these influences concerning species adaptation response – population size and characteristics, morphology, introduced microorganism, parasite infection and bioaccumulation of toxic elements will be examined. Two colonies with different tourist impact – unvisited (Livingston island) and visited (Peterman and Wienke islands) sites will be compared. Thus systematic data concerning the human impact on the behavior and population size and structure will be obtained. First data about existence of a genetic relationship between South Shetlands and the most southern points of Gentoo’s distribution will be obtained. Extensive morphological analyses will provide means for noninvasive sexing. The nature of the newly described coloration of the bill, the role of coccidian and microbial infection and the toxic elements contents in penguins from unvisited and visited colonies will be investigated. The summarized results will allow lying down improved recommendations towards Antarctic tour-operators for better long-term conservation of Gentoo’s colonies as attractive resource species Map of West Antarctica View of Port Lokroy (Wienke Island) – typical tourist place with a colony of Papua penguins Colony of Papua penguins on Peterman Island, the Southern point of the species distribution Colony of Papua penguins (Livingston Island), not visited by tourists А B Pigmentation variability of the Papua penguin’s beak А – Normal pigmantation B – Yellow orange pigmentation on the penguin's beak