Smooth Sailing on the Salish Sea

We had an election here in the Greater Newcastle area. We elected a new Seattle Mayor; guy named “Mike.” Probably takes over for Greg next year. We also got a new King County Executive; guy named “Dow.” Should be interesting.

But here’s the real news: our local leg of the Pacific Ocean has a new name. We used to call some parts “Puget Sound,” or “Strait of Juan De Fuca,” or “That Disgusting Quagmire.” Now it all has an overall name. The old names are retained because the Ferry Boat captains can’t be retrained in a hurry. The new name is “Salish Sea.”

Here’s a map:

Really.

According to the map it includes all the rivers and lakes that supply water to the sea.
That means Lake Boren is now part of the Salish Sea. Newcastle is very proud. Glen, the Lake Boren Carp, has mixed feelings.

Glen likes to get out and visit as much as he can while still making sure the lake level is always maintained.

Thanks to the new culverts and stream restoration in conjunction with the Coal Creek Parkway project it’s fairly easy for him to get in and out of the lake.

The name comes from some studies of Native American peoples of the region who have a common language. There are various groups and tribes and studies show that for the most part they’re pretty much all related. They’re collectively called the Coast Salish and their heritage dates back to 8000 B.C.E.

Most of Glen’s pals around the world, for example Nessy from Loch Ness, are accustomed to hearing tall tales about Puget Sound. They can’t read and usually don’t watch much TeeVee. That means if Glen was to use the new name in conversation they wouldn’t know where he meant. Otherwise Glen really doesn’t care one way or the other.

There is one local character that cares a lot. His name is “Cressy” and he lives in Lake Crescent. Cressy is a distant relative of Nessy and he’s upset because he was just beginning to get noticed. He has no publicist like Nessy so few people are aware of his existence. Now that Lake Crescent is part of the Salish Sea, Cressy is afraid somebody will name him after the sea. “Sally” seems inappropriate for a prehistoric fire breathing monster.

A couple weeks ago I was at Lake Crescent and attempted to get photos of Cressy. Since he can’t read and has no TeeVee he didn’t realize what I was doing. He’s kind of shy.

So here’s the message: if you happen to see Cressy please reassure him that we aren’t going to change his name just because of the Salish Sea name. He may not surface again for awhile but keep an eye out when you’re up there.

This is Lake Crescent - what's that thing in the water? Cressy's parascope?

Al