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Salish Sea Facts

inland waters of Puget Sound and Georgia Basin

What is the Salish Sea?

The Salish Sea is one of the world’s largest and biologically rich inland seas.

The Salish Sea is the unified bi-national ecosystem that includes Washington State’s Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands as well as British Columbia’s Gulf Islands and the Strait of Georgia. The name recognizes and pays tribute to the first inhabitants of the region, the Coast Salish.

The name Salish Sea has been approved by naming boards in both British Columbia and Washington State as well as by the United States and Canadian naming boards.

Politically the Salish Sea is governed by the USA and Canada, but the international boundary separating the Puget Sound Basin (USA) from the Georgia Basin (Canada) corresponds to no natural barrier or transition. The border is invisible to marine fish and wildlife. Species listed as threatened or endangered under the US Endangered Species Act or the Canadian Species at Risk Act, including Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), and some ecologically significant units or species of Pacific salmon (Onchorynchus spp.), traverse the boundary daily. Oceanographic processes such as freshwater inflows and wind driven surface currents exchange biota, sediments and nutrients throughout the larger ecosystem.

Salish Sea Facts:

 

  • Coastline length, including islands: 7,470 km (1:250,000 scale World vector Shoreline and TEOPO2 topographic/bathymetric GIS grid)
  • Total number of islands: 419 (1:250,000 scale World vector Shoreline and TEOPO2 topographic/bathymetric GIS grid)
  • Total land area of islands: 3,660 square kilometers (1:250,000 scale World vector Shoreline and TEOPO2 topographic/bathymetric GIS grid)
  • Sea surface area: 16,925 square kilometers (1:250,000 scale World vector Shoreline and TEOPO2 topographic/bathymetric GIS grid)
  • Maximum depth: 650 meters (Bute Inlet, BC; 1:250,000 scale World vector Shoreline and TEOPO2 topographic/bathymetric GIS grid)
  • Number of different marine animals species estimated: 20 species of mammals, 128 species of birds, 219 species of fish, and over 3000 species of invertebrates (Brown and Gaydos, 2007) http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/seadoc/pdfs/brown-gaydos07.pdf
  • Number of species listed as threatened, endangered or are candidates for listing: 64 (Brown and Gaydos, 2007) http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/seadoc/pdfs/brown-gaydos07.pdf

 

 

Population Map of the Salish Sea

population of the salish sea

 

 

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Why our work matters

Healthy ecosystems support economic prosperity. The Salish Sea provides abundant natural capital that contributes substantially to the financial prosperity of the region. Unhealthy ecosystems cost money because we lose the opportunity to benefit from them. The Salish Sea's deteriorating health threatens our economic well being and quality of life. SeaDoc uses science to find solutions to the problems facing the fish, wildlife and people of the Salish Sea.

How you can help:

Make a donation: Most of SeaDoc's work is supported by private donations from people like you who care about the health of our coastal ecosystems. Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing the science that will give us objective information about designing a healthy ecosystem that benefits both people and wildlife. Click here to learn more about donating to SeaDoc.

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