Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea is the name for a portion of the extreme west of the Arctic Ocean. The sea is largely covered by ice, it is bounded by Canada's Arctic Archipelago to the east, Canada and Alaska to the south, the Chukhsi Sea to the west, and the ice pack to the north. Point Barrow and Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska, are the only two sea ports on the sea.

Prudhoe Bay is the transhipment point for Alaska's oil industry. There are offshore oil rigs in the sea itself.

Canada and the United States had a boundary dispute over a wedge shaped portion of the sea. The land boundary between Alaska and the Yukon runs north-south. Canada's position is that the boundary at sea should be colinear with the land boundary. The United States' position is that the boundary should be perpendicular to the shoreline. Ironically, when considering the upcoming extension of sovereignty from 200 kilometres to the edge of the continental shelf, the equidistant principle previously favored by the USA benefits Canada, due to the Banks Island forcing the boundary to take right angle turn. Similarly, what was previously Canada's preferred boundary interpretation would favor the USA.