Salish Sea Facts
• Shoreline length, including mainland and island shores: 5,850 miles
• Number of islands: about 400
• Estuarine waters: 6,874 miles
• Watersheds: about 45
• Watershed land area: 124,000 miles
• Fraser River freshwater contribution: 50 percent
• Strait of Georgia surface area: 3,500 miles
• Strait of Georgia average depth: 509 feet
• Puget Sound average depth: 450 feet
• Salish Sea maximum depth: 2,133 feet
• Total surrounding population: about 9 million
• Southern resident orca population: 74 – lowest number in three decades
• Existing salmon barrier culverts: 799
• Lost, abandoned fishing nets removed: 5,811
• Estimated marine animals trapped in nets before removal: 11,976,195 annually
Sources: “State of the Salish Sea,” Wikipedia