2006년 8월 경북 연안의 우렁쉥이 앙식장에서 대량폐사가 발생하였다. 폐사 원인을 규명하기 위하여 폐사 직후 폐사가 발생한 양식장을 대상으로 수질환경 조사와 병리학적 조사를 실시하였으나 특이점을 발견하지 못하였다. 그래서 폐사가 발생하기 직전 동해에 영향을 미친 10호 태풍 '우쿵'이 우렁쉥이 폐사에 영항을 미쳤을 것으로 가정하고 태풍 '우쿵' 통과 전후의 해황 자료를 분석하였다. 태풍 우쿵의 영향을 받기 전인 8월 초 중순 동해 연안은 전반적으로 저층 냉수의 용승으로 인하여 수심 10m 이심에서는 15℃ 이하의 찬물이 존재하고 있었다. 그 후 매풍 '우쿵'의 영향으로 인한 북풍이 약 5일간 지속되면서 수온이 높은 외측의 표층수가 연안으로 밀려와 침강하는 현상(에크만 효과)이 발생하여 우렁쉥이가 매달려 있는 수심 10~20m의 수은이 일시에 10℃ 이상 상승하여 약 5일간 지속되었다. 2006년 경북 연안의 양식 우렁쉥이는 장기간 냉수에 적응되어 있다가 태풍 '우쿵'의 영향으로 수온이 급상승함에 따른 수온 스트레스로 인하여 대량폐사된 것으로 추정된다.

Wangdol-cho, located 23 km offshore of Hupo in southwest of East Sea, is underwater rock floor, called to Wangdol-Am or Wangdol-Jam and has three tops as Mat-Jam, Middle-Jam and Set-Jam. The composition, abundance, diversity and community structure were investigated in winter and summer in 2002 around Wangdol-cho. The temperature around the Northwest and Southeast part of Wangdol-cho was influenced by the North Korea Cold Current (NKCC) and East Korea Warm Current (EKWC), respectively. Nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentration were higher at the top of Wangdol-cho than other area. A total of 41 genera and 78 species of phytoplankton were identified. The average cell abundance of phytoplankton in winter and summer were 286×103 cells/㎥, 432×103 cells/㎥ respectively. The largest community was Bacillariophyta containing 52 taxa. The dominant species were Lauderia anulata and Coscinodiscus spp. which preferred cold water in winter. In contrast, warm water species such as Rhizosolenia stolterfothii and Ceratium spp. were dominant in summer. The average species diversity index of phytoplankton in winter was higher than that in summer. According to dominant species and standing crops, phytoplankton community resulted in a clear separation. One group was western area, which showed low density, and the other was eastern area, which showed the higher density. The abundance and species composition of phytoplankton were affected by topological characteristics around Wangdol-cho.

The seasonal variations of picoplankton including Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and Picoeukayotes around Ulneung Island were investigated by flow cytometry in spring, summer and autumn in 2006. All groups of picoplankton showed clear seasonal patterns in population abundance. Among the group, Synechococcus showed the most prominent seasonal variation during the study period. The maximal abundance of Synechococcus occurred in summer and the lowest in autumn. The seasonal distribution of Prochlorococcus displayed the reverse tendency with that of Synechococcus. The abundance of Prochlorococcus ranged from 2.9×103 cells/ml in summer to 311×103 cells/ml in autumn. However, the seasonal distribution of Picoeukaryotes was shown to be relatively constant, and the maximal abundance was 81.5×103 cells/ml in summer. The highest abundance of Picoeukaryotes occurred in summer and the lowest in autumn and the seasonal distribution in abundance of Picoeukaryotes showed a similar trend with that of Synechococcus. The estimated total carbon biomass of picoplankton were ranged from 74.7 mgC/m2 to 1,055.9 mgC/m2. The highest total carbon biomass occurred in summer, but lowest occurred in autumn. The pattern of the contribution of three picoplankton to total autotrophic picoplankton carbon is different. The contribution of Synechococcus to total autotrophic picoplankton carbon is increased to 75%, but the contribution of Prochlorococcus dropped to 12% in summer. The contribution of Picoeukaryotes is ranged from 24% in summer to 72.5% in spring.