The State/Federal Beaufort Sea lease sale in December 1979 attracted over one billion dollars in bids. Tracts with the highest bids, and apparently with the highest oil potential, lie in the area south of Dinkum Sands, and within a three-mile radius of the shoal (Fig. 1). Jurisdiction over the tracts within the three-mile radius depends on whether Dinkum Sands is an island, as shown by published charts and claimed by the State, or a mainly submerged shoal or bar as claimed by the U.S.G.S. If Dinkum Sands were an island, even the tracts halfway between the mainland and the island chain might be disputed as they then would be considered to form an enclave totally surrounded by State lands. Thus Dinkum Sands holds a strategic position within the lease sale area and, for the production life of the oil field, will be monitored at 5-minute intervals to provide a basis for division of the income from future oil production in that lease sale area.
