The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest

"Fashioned by the violent volcanism of the Pacific Rim of Fire, plate tectonics, and the sculptural magic wrought by Ice Age glaciers, the Salish Sea straddles the western border between Canada and the United States and is connected to the Pacific Ocean primarily through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This wondrous watery world has its beginnings high in the landscape, where rivulets of melting snow nourish the cascading streams, rivers, and mountains that surround it. The Salish Sea is, thus, fed by the almost constant influx of freshwater from British Columbia's Fraser River and thousands of smaller rivers and streams on both sides of the border. The mixing of fresh water and salt water provides the essential building blocks for the region's extraordinary biodiversity. The strong currents, extreme tidal ranges, and complex undersea topography that typify this inland sea create optimal conditions for the proliferation of the photosynthetic plankton, which forms the basis of the entire marine food chain. This extraordinary sea is part of the global ocean "conveyor belt" system--an interconnected complex of marine ecosystems that sustains all life on earth. Conservation of our oceans has become the defining challenge of our time"--