Salish Sea Flashcards
The Salish Sea is an inland sea which includes the following bodies of water and their connecting channels:
The Strait of Georgia
Puget Sound
The Strait of Juan de Fuca (minus the Makah Indian Reservation)
The Salish Sea is physically bounded by:
The ebb and flow of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Fraser River watershed
Tidal exchange can be used to distinguish it as a separate unit
The name was first proposed by:
Bert Webber in 1988 and officially adopted by the U.S. in 2009 and Canada in 2010. The name does not replace the names for the separate parts of the sea which preexisted it.
The name was chosen to:
Honor the Coast Salish people, the Native Americans who were the first inhabitants of the area. The term Coast Salish actually refers to a language group, not a specific tribe. It includes upwards of 50 tribes, a large and diverse group of people with their own varying ways of life. Coast Salish support of the name was essential in it eventually being officially recognized.
What bisects the Salish Sea
The Canadian - U.S. Border
The naming of the area helped unify both nations in attempts to protect the resources of the area.
The Salish Sea is the site of significant …
Upwelling, in which cold nutrient-rich water is brought to the surface to mix with oxygen-rich water, creating an ideal environment to support life. The tides fluctuate twice daily, with an average of eight feet and up to 15 feet.
The Salish Sea was formed by …
The retreat of a glacier which only fully retreated about 10,000 years ago. Little of the geology of the region is indigenous to this area and was instead deposited here
- 419 islands
- 10,517 square miles of sear surface
- 2,133 feet deepatits maximum (0.4 miles)
- 37 species of mammals, 172 species of birds, 247 species of fish, over 3,000 species of in
vertebrates. - 113 species with dangerously reduced populations
