Salish Sea: BC’s Globe and Mail headline writer confused

Jane Armstrong’s report for the Globe and Mail has this misleading headline: “Strait Talk: The Plan To Rename The Sea”.

As discussed here Tuesday, no “renaming” is required. No existing names are retired, because there is no name for the inland sea under discussion.

James Neville chimes in with his two cents, as well:

Bert Webber is renewing his pitch to combine the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound under the moniker “Salish Sea” (Strait Talk: The Plan To Rename The Sea – B.C. edition, online; May 20). Though these bodies of water share many ecosystem components, they differ significantly in such practical matters as wind direction and speed, and tidal flux.

Given that they are really parts of the Pacific Ocean (but for Vancouver Island), why add another layer to the naming convention? The claim that “most scientists refer to the waterways as the Salish Sea” is open to question; as a biologist practising in B.C.’s coastal areas, I’ve never heard another scientist use this term.