, ▁which ▁serves ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁major ▁food ▁sources ▁for ▁mer op l ank ton . ▁Deep ▁ocean ic ▁waters ▁show ▁significantly ▁lower ▁abund ance ▁than ▁sh elf ▁regions , ▁due ▁to ▁poor ▁light ▁pen etr ation . ▁ ▁Effect s ▁of ▁poll ution ▁ ▁Water ▁and ▁b enth os ▁poll ution ▁from ▁industrial ▁sources ▁has ▁been ▁demonstrated ▁to ▁have ▁varying ▁ ▁effects ▁on ▁bi ological ▁divers ity ▁and ▁surv ival ▁potential ▁of ▁mer op l ank ton . ▁One ▁study ▁conducted ▁in ▁the ▁V ost ok ▁Bay ▁region ▁in ▁Russia , ▁demonstrated ▁that ▁even ▁in ▁the ▁presence ▁of ▁industrial ▁poll ut ants , ▁most ▁species ▁of ▁mer op l ank ton ▁were ▁able ▁to ▁pro l ifer ate ▁almost ▁una ffect ed . ▁The ▁authors ▁of ▁this ▁study ▁attribute ▁these ▁find ings ▁to ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁mer op l ank ton ▁are ▁transport ed ▁by ▁ocean ▁curr ents ▁generally ▁from ▁cleaner ▁open ▁waters ▁in sh ore . ▁Furthermore , ▁the ▁same ▁study ▁also ▁concluded ▁that ▁even ▁in ▁heavily ▁poll uted ▁areas , ▁mer op l ank ton ▁populations ▁were ▁able ▁to ▁re est ab lish ▁if ▁poll ution ▁was ▁brought ▁under ▁control ▁and ▁sufficient ▁time ▁was ▁allowed ▁to ▁pass . ▁However , ▁the ▁rate ▁of ▁re colon ization ▁was ▁demonstrated ▁to ▁be ▁not ably ▁slow , ▁on ▁average ▁talking ▁about ▁ 1 0 ▁years ▁before ▁the ▁abund ance ▁and ▁divers ity ▁of ▁mer op l ank ton ▁returned ▁to ▁its ▁original ▁levels . ▁This ▁is ▁in ▁part ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁slow