Peschany Island also known as Ostrov Mel, is an unusually-shaped island in the Laptev Sea

Laptev Sea

The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...

. It consists of a 12 kilometres (7.5 mi)-long elliptical landspit

Spit (landform)

A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...

 which is broken in its eastern and southeastern side forming three smaller islands. The curved spit encloses a shallow lagoon, making Peschany look like a tropical atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

 in the maps. This island is barren and uninhabited.

Peschany is located 74 kilometres (46 mi) to the east of Bolshoy Begichev Island

Bolshoy Begichev Island

Bolshoy Begichev is an island in the Laptev Sea, Russia. Its area is 1764 km². The island is situated within the Khatanga Gulf , splitting the gulf into two straits....

. The Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

n coast lies 62 kilometres (38.5 mi) to the south.

The sea surrounding Peschany Island is covered with pack ice in the winter. There are large polynias forming on the sea in Peschany Island's vicinity.
The climate is marked by severe Arctic weather with frequent gales and low temperatures even in the short summer season which lasts barely two months.

There are colonies of walruses on this lonely island.

A British yachtsman visiting Peschany Island recently commented on the weather and on the desolation of the place: "I have been anchored off Ostrov Peschany for a week now and during that time have had to move position eight times. There is, as a rule of thumb, a gale per day lasting between 8 and 12 hours" ... "Ostrov Peschany must be one of the bleakest and least inviting islands anywhere in the world."

Administration

The island is administered by the Sakha Republic of Russia.

Peschany Island in the Laptev Sea should not be confused with the following places also named Peschany:

• Cape Peschany, Bolshevik Island Severnaya Zemlya
  Severnaya Zemlya
  Severnaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Russian high Arctic at around . It is located off mainland Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula across the Vilkitsky Strait...
  
   (Latitude: 79° 25' 6 N, Longitude: 102° 28' 5 E)
• Ostrov Peschany, Azerbaijan
  Azerbaijan
  Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
  
   (Latitude: 40° 18' 39 N, Longitude: 50° 3' 40 E)
• Ostrov Peschany, Ukraine
  Ukraine
  Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
  
  (Latitude: 45° 22' 0 N, Longitude: 29° 40' 60 E)