Posted on November 2, 2009
It’s chilly in Bellingham, WA on this Monday, November 02, 2009. With October behind us, our week’s, or should I say, month’s activities are beginning with a fresh, new performance board!
Did you KNOW…that Salish Sea is now a new name to designate waters encompassing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound south to Olympia? On Friday, October 30, the Washington State Board on Geographic Names voted 5-1in favor of adding Salish Sea as an approved name for these bodies of water and the many watery connections in between. The name still awaits approval by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and its Canadian counterpart, which may happen as soon as this month.
The board’s action does not replace the existing names. Rather, the board’s action means Salish Sea becomes an additional name to be used by cartographers and others to designate all the waters encompassing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. Salish is a term used by linguists to describe the peoples and languages of tribes in the Pacific Northwest and, therefore, a fitting designation for the bodies of water encompassing their region of dwelling.
Bert Webber, a retired professor of marine ecology at Western Washington University, first proposed the name in 1989, but withdrew the request from the board’s consideration for a lack of interest. However, with several key species, including Chinook salmon and killer whales at the brink of extinction there is a need more than ever for a conservation effort that crosses the border. The board members approved the name to acknowledge the ecological continuum that spans the international boundary between Canada and the United States.
“It’s an ecological victory,” Joe Gaydos, chief scientist for the SeaDoc Society, a nonprofit marine-science group that has used the name for years. “We talk about place-based conservation, but how do you do that without a name for the place or a sense of place? The border doesn’t mean anything for the killer whales and the Pacific salmon that cross it every day.”
*Information gathered from The Bellingham Herald, October 31, 2009, State board OKs ‘Salish Sea’ proposal *bltimoresun.com-October 31, 2009, New name approved for greater Puget Sound body of water: Salish Sea
