Acrylic acid (AA), together with the major biogenic sulfur compound dimethylsulfide (DMS), is microbially degraded from dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), which is one of the major sulfur compounds in the marine environment. Distributions of AA concentrations and related parameters in the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass was studied during August, 2011. The results showed that the concentrations of AA ranged from 0 to 0.208 μmol/L in the surface water, with an average of (0.081±0.075) μmol/L. The high values appeared in the southeast part of this area, which was influenced by the Changjiang diluted water. An increasing trend from the north to the south of AA concentrations was basically consistent with that of chlorophyll a (Chl-a), suggesting that AA in this area was mainly the product of microbial cleavage of DMSP. There was a significant negative relationship between AA concentrations and temperature in the surface water. The vertical profile of AA concentrations were presented as follows: Middle>Bottom>Surface,which could be attributed to the combined effects of AA production from phytoplankton and AA consumption by aquatic bacteria. Concentrations of AA showed no obvious correlation with those of DMSP or DMS during this cruise, and they were far higher than concentrations of DMS. The average ratio of AA/DMS was 106∶ 1, and production of AA from the cleavage of DMSP was about 66.5% according to observed data. The average ratio of AA/Chl-a was found to be 126.6 mmol/g. It was one order of magnitude higher than that of DMSP/Chl-a and two orders of magnitude higher than that of DMS/Chl-a.