Pacific Ocean - Salish SeaThe Salish Sea is an inland waterway stretching from Tumwater in Washington to the Johnstone Strait in British Columbia. The large, estuarine inland sea includes what is now called Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca which connects the sea with the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea and the Georgia Basin encompass the inland sea and its land. It is one of the most spectacular settings in the world. Temperate for its latitude, the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island Mountain Ranges shield it from the Pacific Ocean, together with The Cascade Mountain Range they contribute most of the inflowing fresh water. Two of the few temperate rain forests in the world are located around the Salish Sea.
The climate around the sea is characterized by warm dry summers and cool wet winters. The west coast of British Columbia consists of Coastal Douglas fir forests which are typical of this area. However, much of this part of British Columbia is dry, flat with low elevation. It is home to some unique plant and animal habitats. Humpback and grey whales are resident in these waters along with migratory pods of orca dolphins. The sea and its shores provide vital habitat for the millions of birds that migrate each year along the Pacific Flyway (a major north-south route of travel for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia). More water birds and birds of prey spend winter here more than anywhere else in Canada, and five species of salmon use the waters as the gateway to their spawning grounds. |
