Figure 3. At the end of April 2012, St. Matthew Island was still well surrounded by ice and did not clear the area until at least the end of May. The ice did not return to this region until mid-to-late December 2012. Ice conditions were somewhat more severe than this in 1875, when Elliott saw bears spending the summer on St. Matthew: then, the ice did not retreat until late June (about a month later than 2012) and was perhaps back again by late November. Modified maps from NSIDC. Click to enlarge.