Ice in the Yenisei Gulf formed a 'dragon-scale' pattern

Strong winds and freezing temperatures in the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea created overlapping, scale-like sea-ice patterns known locally as 'dragon scales.' Photos were shared by the first mate of the nuclear icebreaker Ural.

AI Comment from GPT 5:

The “dragon-scale” pattern described here matches a scenario of thin, newly formed ice repeatedly lifted and overlapped by wind, then refreezing in very cold air. That combination of thin ice, strong gusts, and rapid re-freeze can generate shingled textures along a shorefast edge, consistent with the account from the Ural’s crew.

Context from related posts:

• Variable and shifting sea-ice regimes along the Northern Sea Route have been noted before. An icebreaker official reported that changing winds have pushed multi-year ice toward the North Siberian coast, complicating navigation and routing decisions Icebreaker operator: 'We are seeing a more complicated situation with sea ice'. Such wind-driven redistribution of ice is compatible with the wind-forced reshaping seen in the Yenisei Gulf.

• Episodes of difficult navigation due to early-winter ice conditions in the Kara region have also been documented, including vessels trapped for weeks before icebreakers opened a path After a month stuck in Arctic sea ice, nine vessels make it to Kara Sea. Local wind and temperature patterns can quickly change surface ice characteristics, even within the same season.

• Elsewhere, reports highlight both thinner/weak ice and unusual timing. In Alaska, shorefast ice near Nome broke off mid-winter amid warmth and thin ice In shocking first, sea ice breaks off in mid-February, while in 2020 the Laptev Sea failed to refreeze on its usual schedule Russian Arctic Sea Fails to Freeze. These posts underscore how sensitive early-formed ice can be to weather, which helps explain how strong winds can manipulate thin ice into layered “scales.”

• The network also includes several observations of unusual ice morphologies formed by wind, waves, and freezing conditions—such as “ice pancakes” in Scotland Ice pancakes float along a river in the Highlands, “ice eggs” on Finnish shores Beached "ice eggs" astound strollers on Finnish island and Ice balls spotted on island in Finland, and river “ice balls” in Arctic Alaska Bizarre ice balls found in Arctic Alaska river puzzle locals and scientists. While the processes differ, they share a theme: mechanical action (wind or waves) acting on thin or fragmentary ice in freezing conditions can produce distinctive patterns and shapes.

Taken together, the related posts support the explanation that wind acting on thin, newly formed ice—followed by rapid refreezing—can create striking, patterned surfaces, including the “dragon-scale” texture observed in the Yenisei Gulf.