Abstract
Around the western part of Teshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture, various types of industrial waste were dumped illegally for about 20 years. The dumped wastes amount to a total of approximately 500,000 tons. The biological monitoring of coastal seawater was carried out using the sea urchin embryo development test to elucidate the influence of polluted seawater on marine organisms. The monitoring was conducted while the seaside restoration was in progress from March 1999 to February 2003. The results of March 2001 showed that the pluteus formation stage decreased from level one to three, and similar results were observed in July, 2001. The decrease coincided with the time after work on seaside restoration had been completed. On the basis of these results, the Apollo-like deformation of sea urchin embryos was considered to be mainly due to an increase in the zinc concentration of seawater.
