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 scarce due to the harsh climate. The summer plankton bloom is short but intense, producing 5 million tonnes of plankton in August and September, whereas the annual production is 7 million tonnes. The nutrients in water are mostly provided by river discharges and coastal erosion. The plankton species are dominated by the Pacific species of copepods. The sea shores and icefields host ringed seals ("Phoca hispida"), bearded seals ("Erignathus barbatus") and walruses ("Odobenus rosmarus") along with their predator, polar bear ("Ursus maritimus"). Birds include seagulls, uria and cormorants. Sea waters are often visited by bowhead whale ("Balaena mysticetus"), gray whale