Within the SIBEX study area greater concentrations of net-phytoplanklon biomass and numbers were found in waters with clearly defined physical characteristics of either Bellingshausen Sea (an area north and west of Anvers Island and northern part of the Bransfield Strait) or Weddell Sea (south eastern entrance to the Bransfield Strait). Low biomass and cell numbers occurred in the southern Drake Passage and in the south central Bransfield Strait, which in the latter case, appears to be a characteristic feature of ihsse waters during the entire phytoplankton growing season. Early summer blooms of Chaetoceros neglectus and C. tortissimum were mainly responsible for high values of phytoplankton biomass. Some diatoms, such as C. socialis were exclusively associated with Weddell Sea water; a replacement of one water type by another in the Bransfield Strait may considerably modify phytoplankton populations which are present there.