Salish Sea

The first known use of the term Salish Sea was in 1988, when marine biologist Bert Webber from Bellingham, Washington, created the name for the combined waters in the region with the intention to complement the names Georgia Strait, Puget Sound, and Strait of Juan de Fuca, not replace them.[3] The adoption of the term, he said, would raise consciousness about taking care of the region's waters and ecosystems. Webber's efforts are credited with the official recognition of the term in Canada and the U.S.

The Coast Salish are the indigenous peoples who live in southwest British Columbia and northwest Washington along the Salish Sea and share a common linguistic and cultural origin. The Coast Salish are seen as one of the main cultural and linguistic branches of a larger group known as Salishan or Salish. Five divisions of the Salish language family are recognized, with Coast Salish and Interior Salish being the primary two. The Salish family consists of 23 separate languages.[4] European and American explorers first encountered Salishan people along the Pacific Northwest coast in the late 18th century. The first detailed information was obtained by the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806.[5] The term "Salish" was originally applied only to the Interior Salish Flathead tribe living in the region of Flathead Lake, Montana.[5][6] By the mid-20th century, it had been extended to cover all people speaking a similar language.[7] The Flathead Nation continues to refer to their language and culture as Salish.[8][9] A variant name for Flathead Lake is "Selish Lake".[10] The name Salish Sea was coined only in the late 20th century. No overarching title exists for this area or even a commonly shared name for any of the waterbodies in any of the Coast Salish languages.

The waterways of the Salish Sea were important trade routes for the Coast Salish, and they remain a source of food and other resources for the indigenous peoples. The basin includes territory of not only Coast Salish peoples, but also the Northern Wakashan Kwakwaka'wakw and Southern Wakashan peoples (the Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah, and Ditidaht) and, formerly, that of the Chimakum (a Chimakuan people related to the Quileute who no longer exist as a recognizable group, having been wiped out by the Suquamish and others in the 19th century).[11]

In March 2008, the Chemainus First Nation proposed renaming the Georgia Strait the "Salish Sea," an idea that reportedly met with approval by B.C.'s Aboriginal Relations Minister Mike de Jong, who pledged to put it before the B.C. cabinet for discussion. Making the name "Salish Sea" official required a formal application to the Geographical Names Board of Canada.[12] A parallel American movement promoting the name had a different definition, combining of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound as well as the Strait of Georgia and related waters under the name Salish Sea.

In August 2009, the British Columbia Geographical Names Office approved a resolution recommending that the Geographical Names Board of Canada adopt the name Salish Sea contingent on approval by the United States Board on Geographic Names.[13][14] The name was endorsed by the Washington State Board on Geographic Names in late October, 2009.[15] It was approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names on November 12, 2009,[16] and by the British Columbia Geographical Names Office in February 2010. The French name Mer des Salish is also official in Canada.[1]

In a 2019 survey of residents in the general vicinity of the Salish Sea, only 9 percent of Washingtonians and 15 percent of British Columbians were able to correctly identify and name the Salish Sea.[17]

Opponents to the Salish Sea designation assert that it is really a series of interconnected straits, sounds and inlets. Others oppose it for historical reasons and question the validity of the term "Salish".[18] Overcoming these objections, the geographic boards of both Canada and the United States have officially recognized the name since the year 2010.

The region encompassing these waterways is or was also known variously as the Georgia–Puget or Puget–Georgia Basin, or in the singular as the Georgia Depression, the Georgia Basin or Puget Sound et al. The Canadian half of the region was originally named in 1792 by George Vancouver, and often remains referred to as the Gulf of Georgia,[19] a term which encompasses the Strait of Georgia and all other waters peripheral to it, as well as to the communities lining its shores or on its islands. Like the term "Puget Sound", the terms "Georgia Strait" and "Gulf of Georgia" refer to the general region as well as the body of water.

Scientists have identified 253 fish species observed in marine or brackish waters of the Salish Sea ecosystem. These 253 species, encompassing one myxinid, two petromyzontids, 18 chondrichthyans, two chondrosteans, and 230 teleosts, are contained within 78 families and 31 orders.[20]

The plight of southern resident orca (Orcinus orca) in the Salish Sea has attracted global attention, as these fish-eating whales are starving due to low salmon populations. Video footage showed an orca named Tahlequah, who carried her dead calf on her head for more than 1,000 miles over 17 days before parting with it. Known as southern resident killer whales, this orca population is at a 35-year low after three adult deaths in 2019 and no surviving calves over three years, leaving only 73 whales in the community.[21][22][23]

Healthy mammal-eating orca pods also visit the Salish Sea and their population is increasing. These orcas are known as Bigg’s Killer Whales, or Transient Killer Whales.