Seasonal changes of abundance of the main phytoplankton groups of species (diatoms, dinoflagellates, chrysophytes, small flagellates and cryptophytes) and a set of environmental parameters were investigated in coastal and pre-estuarine waters of Peter the Great Bay (East/Japan Sea) in May-October of 1998 and 1999. Three periods of mass development were revealed: spring, summer and autumn blooms, with successive change of species. The conditions favourable for each group of species were determined. Driving mechanisms of the succession include nutrients transport through seasonal pycnocline by turbulent mixing, terrestrial nutrients supply by monsoon floods, nutrients supply by upwellings, and light control by the thickness of upper mixed layer. Summer succession could be explained by a simple SST-MLD diagram similar to Pingree S-kh diagram with sea surface temperature as indicator of stratification (S) and mixed layer depth as indicator of light availability (kh).