This paper addresses the phenology of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) in the Black Sea (BS). We show that the DCM forms in March at a density level set by the winter mixed layer. It maintains this location until June, suggesting an influence of the DCM on light and nutrient profiles rather than mere adaptation to external factors. In summer, the DCM concentrates ~55 % of the chlorophyll in a 10 m layer at ~35 m depth and should be considered a major feature of the BS phytoplankton dynamics.