Evaluation of the ecological state of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk using the DNase test system

A study of the state of the Russian coastal marine ecosystems of the Sea of Japan (the Tumen River mouth) and the Sea of Okhotsk (the eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island and the Sakhalin Gulf) and Kraternya Bight (Yankich Island, Kuril Islands) was carried out during the 29th expedition of the R/V Akademik Oparin. A highly sensitive express analysis using the DNase of the Strongylocentrotus intermedius sea urchin was utilized in order to evaluate the quality of the natural marine water of the areas experiencing different degrees of anthropogenic impact. The marine water quality was evaluated according to the degree of the DNase inhibition in the samples. The presence of ecological stress was shown at the aforementioned sites excluding Kraternya Bight. The method allows the fast (1 hour) analysis of the pollution of marine areas and, coupled with data on the hydrological, hydrochemical, and microbiological studies of water samples, provides the possibility to make an ecological forecast.