ABSTRACT
The United States government made a strong effort to open up the Chukchi Sea and the adjacent Beaufort Sea in Arctic Alaska, to oil and gas development, initiating a second wave of such development. The Inupiat communities all across the North Slope of Alaska depend on marine mammals of the Chukchi and the Beaufort seas, including bowhead and beluga whales, seals, and walrus, for nutritional as well as cultural and spiritual needs. Many members of these communities, who value their traditional culture, have opposed offshore oil and gas development, fearing that such industrialization would seriously impact the whales and their migration and, subsequently, the Inupiat culture. Arctic sea drilling would contribute significantly to global climate change. The second wave of Arctic offshore development likely has come to an end, which is significant news for climate change mitigation, and a relief for the Inupiat people who have opposed industrialization of the Arctic Ocean, working in close collaboration with the environmental organizations.
