Microbiological analysis of the contamination of marginal seas in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean

A comparative study of the abundance of microorganisms of different environmental and trophic groups in the seawater of several aquatic areas of Far Eastern seas under the conditions of integrated organic contamination was carried out. It was shown that, although marine microorganisms are characterized by polyresistance to a great variety of contaminants, their responses are individual for each of the kinds of pollutants. By the results of microbial indication, the environmental quality in the areas of the greatest ecological stresses at the Pacific Ocean coasts was estimated. These areas were the coasts of Sakhalin Island in the oil production region, the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Avacha Bay region, the southern Primor’e within the impact zone of the Tumannaya River runoff, and Zolotoi Rog Bight located in the central part of the city of Vladivostok. On the basis of the data concerning the microbial indication of the contamination of the aquatic areas studied with oil hydrocarbons, phenols, and nutrients, the applicability of this method to the express estimation of the quality of coastal seawaters and to the short-term forecast of the changes that proceed under the complicated organic contamination was demonstrated.