Puget Sound may become part of the Salish Sea

The body of water surrounding Whidbey Island will have an alternative name if the Washington State Board on Geographic Names decides so on Friday.

The board will vote on whether to use "Salish Sea" as the collective name for the bodies of water that include Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Strait.

The traditional names would stay on the map, but the collective would be known as the Salish Sea.

The board meets Friday, Oct. 30, from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Natural Resources Building, Room 172, 1111 Washington St. SE, Olympia.

The proposal, if approved, would not eliminate or change the names used on maps or in atlases for individual bodies of water within the Salish Sea, such as Puget Sound, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The meeting would be the final step in the board’s deliberation of the proposal, which was made by a member of the public, Bert Webber, a retired marine biologist.

According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the Coast Salish are a grouping of indigenous peoples who live in Southwestern British Columbia, and northeastern Washington.

The meeting is open to the public.

For more information, please visit: www.dnr.wa.gov/AboutDNR/BoardsCouncils/WBGN/Pages/Home.aspx,

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