Arctic sea ice at lowest maximum. NASA IceBridge aerial photograph of sea ice at the then record-breaking lowest recorded maximum in March 2015. This record, the lowest observed maximum extent of Arctic sea ice since records began, was broken in 2016. The March Arctic maximum is different to the September Arctic minimum, which has also set record lows since 2005. This image shows snow-covered ice floes, open-water leads, brash ice and thin, snow-free nilas and young sea ice. Nilas are thin sheets of smooth, level ice less than 10 centimetres thick and appear darkest when thin. Photographed over the East Beaufort Sea on 27 March 2015.