"After investing billions of dollars and navigating a gantlet of legal and regulatory hurdles in its seven-year quest to explore for Arctic oil, Royal Dutch Shell PLC could face additional delays as it awaits the end of whale hunting season in the Beaufort Sea."

"As they have for thousands of years, Alaska Natives in Kaktovik and Nuiqsut are scheduled as soon as this week to begin their fall bowhead hunt, a vital Inupiat tradition that provides tens of thousands of pounds of meat for North Slope communities.

While Shell's Kulluk drill rig this week began its two-week voyage from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to its drill site about 20 miles north of the Beaufort coast, the start of drilling may largely depend on the success of this year's hunt."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire August 22, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Drilling Delays Aren't Slowing Shell's Alaska Pipeline Work" (EnergyWire) [3]