Beaufort Sea Beaufort Sea The Beaufort Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, and west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after Sir Francis Beaufort, a hydrographer. The Mackenzie River, the longest in Canada, empties into the Canadian part of the Beaufort Sea west of Tuktoyaktuk, which is one of the few permanent settlements on the sea shores. The sea, characterized by severe climate, is frozen over most of the year. Historically, only a narrow pass up to opened in August–September near its shores, but recently due
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, (c. 1371 – 16 March 1410) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the first of the four illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (1340-1399) (third surviving son of King Edward III) by his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396. Beaufort's surname (properly "de Beaufort", "from Beaufort") probably reflects his birthplace at his father's castle and manor of Beaufort ("beautiful stronghold") (from 1688 "Montmorency-Beaufort") in Champagne, France, situated 100 miles east of Paris,