Vilkitsky Island (East Siberian Sea) Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition led by Boris Vilkitsky on the ships "Taymyr" and "Vaygach" on behalf of the Russian Hydrographic Service in order to chart the last blank areas of Russian maps. Vilkitsky Island (East Siberian Sea) Vilkitsky Island (; "Ostrov Vilkitskogo") is the southernmost island of the De Long group in the northern part of the East Siberian Sea. Administratively Vilkitsky Island belongs to the Sakha Republic administrative division of the Russian Federation. The island is named after Russian hydrographer Boris Vilkitsky. The island is outside of the limits of permanent ice and is unglaciated. At barely Vilkitsky
East Siberian Sea the ice cover transforms into drifting ice having the thickness of 2–3 m. The southern winter winds shift this ice northwards, making polynyas near the sea centre. There are no icebergs in the sea. Ice melting typically starts around May, first around the delta of the major Kolyma River. In absence of industry, sea water is rather clean. Minor contaminations are found near the Novosibirsk and Wrangel islands (up to 80 µg/L), due to occasional oil spills, and in Chaunskaya Bay due to the local thermal power station and activities at the major port Pevek. Flora and fauna are relatively