Why is the Salish Sea so rich with life?

Why is the Salish Sea so rich with life?

Why is the Salish Sea so rich with life?

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I have come to see that the vitality of my home waters of Átl’ka7tsem /Howe Sound are intimately tied to the health of the larger Salish Sea, of which we are a part. This got me out exploring various corners of the Salish Sea from Desolation Sound to Seattle. In these travels I have found that the Salish Sea is a giant mixing bowl where nutrients from mountains and the deep offshore Pacific are stirred together by tidal currents into life-giving waters.  And that this big sprawling inland sea is a single interconnected body of life, filled with extraordinary wild neighbours. 

Kelp swaying in current
Strong tidal currents, such as those in Malaspina Inlet, Desolation Sound cause deep nutrient-rich waters to upwell, fertilizing the growth of algae in surface water
Map of ocean to river flows
The richness of the Salish Sea depends on the nutrients delivered by both rivers and deep currents from the offshore Pacific
Snow Geese
Snow Geese, Roberts Bank, Fraser Delta. The Salish Sea’s many rivers each have a highly productive delta and estuary where the river meets the sea
Anemones underwater
Anenome, Surge Narrows, Discovery Islands
Family on Hornby Island
Our wild neighbours so enrich those who live around the shores of the Salish Sea