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52-661: The South Thompson originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest through a wide valley to Kamloops where it joins the North Thompson. Highway 1 , the Trans-Canada Highway and the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway parallel the river. Little Shuswap Lake is fed by the Little River , which drains Shuswap Lake , which

104-665: A maximum depth of 670 m (2,200 ft) in Jervis Inlet . The Transboundary Georgia Basin–Puget Sound Environmental Indicators Working Group defines the limits of the Salish Sea as: On the West. The entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait (a line between Cape Flattery and Carmanah Point ). On the South. The south end of Puget Sound (the head of Budd Inlet ). On the North. Extends just beyond

156-458: A total area of about 110,000 km (42,000 sq mi), which is over six times the surface area of the sea itself. Major rivers discharging into the sea include the Fraser River , Nisqually River , Nooksack River , Puyallup River , Skagit River , Snohomish River , and Squamish River . The flow of fresh water into the Salish Sea from numerous rivers and the introduction of salt from

208-564: Is "Selish Lake". The name Salish Sea was coined only in the late 20th century. No overarching title exists for this area or even a commonly shared name for any of the waterbodies in any of the Coast Salish languages. The waterways of the Salish Sea were important trade routes for the Coast Salish, and they remain a source of food and other resources for the Indigenous peoples . The basin includes territory of not only Coast Salish peoples, but also

260-451: Is approximately 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi) in area. It has a mean depth of 14.3 metres (47 ft) to a maximum of 59.4 metres (195 ft). The recreational and Secwepemc First Nations community of Chase (known as Quaaout in the Secwepemc language ) is at the lake's southern end. The smaller community of Squilax lies at the lake's northern end, on the north side of

312-702: Is fed by several rivers and creeks. The North Thompson originates at the toe of the Thompson Glacier in the Cariboo Mountains west of the community of Valemount and flows generally south towards Kamloops and the confluence with the South Thompson. For most of its length, the river is paralleled by Highway 5 , and the Canadian National Railway (both of which cross the river a couple times). The North Thompson passes by several small communities,

364-722: Is or was also known variously as the Georgia–Puget or Puget–Georgia Basin, or in the singular as the Georgia Depression , the Georgia Basin or Puget Sound, et al. The Canadian half of the region was named in 1792 by George Vancouver , and often remains referred to as the Gulf of Georgia , a term which encompasses the Strait of Georgia and all other waters peripheral to it, as well as to the communities lining its shores or on its islands. Like

416-725: Is roughly 30 kilometres (19 mi) in length, ending at the town of Savona . From there it flows in a meandering course westwards through a broad valley area. At Ashcroft , the Thompson Canyon begins and the river turns southwestward to its confluence with the Fraser. The river is paralleled by the Trans-Canada Highway, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway. From Ashcroft to Lytton,

468-461: Is the most densely populated island with 354 residents/km (916 residents/mi ) as of 2019. The largest island by far on the Canadian side is Texada Island of 300.45 km (116.00 sq mi), but a population of 1000–2000 people. The Salish Sea sits within the Georgia Depression , a large depression that formed out of the collision of continental plates about 150 million years ago . The depression

520-576: The Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington . It includes the Strait of Georgia , the Strait of Juan de Fuca , Puget Sound , and an intricate network of connecting channels and adjoining waterways . The sea stretches from the channels of the Discovery Islands north of the Strait of Georgia to Budd Inlet at the south end of Puget Sound. It is partially separated from

572-659: The Adams River , the Thompson has one of the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world. Pink salmon spawn mostly below Kamloops Lake, while coho spawning beds are found in 40 of the Thompson watershed's streams and rivers. Coastal rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ), including an anadromous variety called steelhead, are found in the river along with a local strain the Kamloops rainbow trout which occurs in Kamloops Lake at

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624-804: The Northern Wakashan Kwakwaka'wakw and Southern Wakashan peoples (the Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah , and Ditidaht ) and, formerly, that of the Chimakum (a Chimakuan people related to the Quileute , who no longer exist as a recognizable group, having been wiped out by the Suquamish and others in the 19th century). In March 2008, the Chemainus First Nation proposed renaming the Georgia Strait

676-613: The Salish Sea , more than 250 kilometres (160 mi) away. From this point, the Thompson waters stopped flowing eastward into the Columbia River system, and the river became a tributary of the Fraser. Because of large deposits of glacial silt, sand, and gravel in the lower Thompson River valley, large landslides are common. The area downstream from the town of Ashcroft is prone to landslide events; eight major events between 1880 and 1982 have been recorded. Several of them have obstructed

728-748: The Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound , as well as the Strait of Georgia and related waters under the name Salish Sea. In August 2009, the British Columbia Geographical Names Office approved a resolution recommending that the Geographical Names Board of Canada adopt the name Salish Sea contingent on approval by the United States Board on Geographic Names . The name was endorsed by the Washington State Board on Geographic Names in late October 2009. It

780-597: The brackish , nutrient-rich, conditions. As with all marine food webs, the Salish Sea features a range of trophic groups, with autotrophic algae acting as primary producers. The fluvial systems draining British Columbia and Washington introduce large volumes of sediment and dissolved nutrients into the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea hosts a diverse community of kelp species that provide large volumes of high-quality habitat in areas with hard, rocky substrates . The largest of these kelp species include bull kelp and giant kelp . Eelgrass meadows are abundant throughout

832-541: The "Salish Sea", an idea that reportedly met with approval by British Columbia's Aboriginal Relations Minister Mike de Jong , who pledged to put it before the Executive Council of British Columbia for discussion. Making the name "Salish Sea" official required a formal application to the Geographical Names Board of Canada . A parallel American movement promoting the name had a different definition, combining

884-666: The 1970s, based out of Spences Bridge. Notable whitewater features on the lower river include the Frog, named for a frog-shaped rock formation, and the Jaws of Death, named by CPR engineers. Rapids on the river reach up to Class 5 on the International Scale of River Difficulty . Little Shuswap Lake Little Shuswap Lake is a small lake in the Thompson River basin of the southern Interior of British Columbia , Canada , which sits at

936-664: The British Columbia Fish Protection Act of 1997, the Thompson cannot be considered for future dam construction. Conservation of the Thompson's fisheries, especially its salmon population, has been a focus of provincial, federal, and international bodies, such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Pacific Salmon Commission . From the 1950s through the early 1990s the Thompson River

988-517: The North Thompson has been sparse, but artifacts near Bridge Lake to the west of the river have been dated to 3000 BCE, while pieces found near the tributary Clearwater River are possibly as old as 6000 to 7000 BCE. Explorer of the Fraser River and North West Company employee Simon Fraser named the river, after passing its mouth on the Fraser in 1808. He named the river after his colleague, David Thompson , who had mapped much of western Canada and

1040-510: The Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ( COSEWIC ), for Canada's Species At Risk Act (SARA) protections. The river is subject to catch and release angling only for steelhead and has severely restricted seasons to protect the wild stocks of remaining steelhead. The rapids of the lower Thompson are used for recreational whitewater rafting . The first commercial rafting operation on the river began in

1092-486: The Strait of Georgia to include those channels and waterways where the floodstream or tidal surge is from the south: Discovery Passage south of Seymour Narrows , Sutil Channel south of Penn Islands, Lewis Channel , Waddington Channel and Pendrell Sound , Desolation Sound , and the southern portion of Homfray Channel . The watershed of the Salish Sea (not including the Upper Fraser River watershed) has

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1144-533: The Strait of Georgia. The Salish Sea contains more than 400 islands, most of which can be grouped into one of three island groups: the Discovery Islands , Gulf Islands , and San Juan Islands . Whidbey Island in Washington is the largest and most populous island with a total area of 436.9 km (168.7 sq mi) and an estimated population of 69,480 as of 2010. Bainbridge Island , also in Washington,

1196-519: The Strait of Juan de Fuca create a salinity gradient , which varies considerably depending on seasonal changes in ocean currents and river discharge . The Fraser River is the single largest source of freshwater with an average discharge rate of 3,475 m /s (122,700 cu ft/s) and a maximum discharge rate of 17,000 m /s (600,000 cu ft/s). Residence times at intermediate depths average 60 days in Puget Sound and 160 days in

1248-432: The Thompson River headwaters and other nearby lakes. Other fish species include round whitefish , largescale sucker , bridgelip sucker , northern pikeminnow , longnose dace , and slimy sculpin . Several bird species are found in Thompson River environments, including osprey , merganser , wood ducks , and American dippers . Golden eagles are found near the confluence with the Fraser, and Bald eagles congregate on

1300-740: The Thompson River valley, water from the area likely drained eastward, through the Shuswap Lake area into what is now the Columbia River drainage. This flow direction was influenced by large ice buildups in the Thompson valley, which created extensive glacial lakes . Two large glacial lakes, Glacial Lake Thompson and Glacial Lake Deadman, occupied much of the modern river's course from 13,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE. These deep, narrow, ribbon-shaped lakes held large volumes of water; Glacial Lake Thompson held nearly 84 cubic kilometres (20 cu mi) at its highest point. The lake stretched from Spences Bridge in

1352-407: The Thompson. About 17.4 kilometres (10.8 mi) upstream from the small town of Avola , the river is forced through a narrow chute only about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide creating a rapid that resembles the Fraser's famous rapid. At Kamloops, the combined Thompson River flows 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers before reaching Kamloops Lake , which

1404-733: The continental ice sheets of the last ice age . The ice moved out of the Thompson River region approximately 11,000 BCE, and migration by the ancestors of the Nlaka'pamux and Secwepemc people is thought to have occurred soon after. Some of the older archaeological sites on the lower Thompson include the Drynoch Slide site, near Spences Bridge, with artifacts dating to about 7350 BCE, and the Landels site, near Ashcroft, which dates to older than 8000 BCE. Archaeologists theorize early settlers lived in small groups, beginning with nomadic bands hunting ungulates on

1456-599: The estuary of the Little River. The TransCanada Highway and Canadian Pacific Railway run along the lake's eastern shore. This article about a location in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Salish Sea The Salish Sea ( / ˈ s eɪ l ɪ ʃ / SAY -lish ) is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in

1508-487: The fertile benches of the river, and a North West Company trading fort at the confluence of the North and South rivers became the city of Kamloops , now the largest human population center in the watershed. The Thompson River supports 24 fish species, including two considered endangered. It also hosts carp , which are not native to the watershed. The river is home to large populations of Pacific salmon , including coho , sockeye , pink and chinook . Through its tributary,

1560-528: The formation of glass sponge reefs . These reefs were believed to have gone extinct during or shortly after the Cretaceous period , until a large collection of existing reefs were discovered off the British Columbia Coast in 1987. Due to their scientific and ecological importance, all known sponge reefs in the Salish Sea are protected from bottom-contact fishing activities. The lowlands surrounding

1612-535: The main cultural and linguistic branches of a larger group known as Salishan or Salish. Five divisions of the Salish language family are recognized, with Coast Salish and Interior Salish being the primary two. The Salish family consists of 23 separate languages. European and American explorers first encountered Salishan people along the Pacific Northwest coast in the late 18th century. The first detailed information

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1664-459: The most notable being Blue River , Clearwater & Barriere . The North Thompson picks up the Clearwater River at the town of Clearwater. The Clearwater, the North Thompson's largest tributary, drains much of Wells Gray Provincial Park . A notable feature along the North Thompson is Little Hells Gate , a mini-replica of the much larger rapid on the Fraser downstream from the mouth of

1716-576: The open Pacific Ocean by Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula . Much of the coast is part of the Pacific Northwest megalopolis . The region is anchored by Metro Vancouver to the north, and Metro Seattle to the south. Other principal cities on the Salish Sea include Bellingham , Port Angeles , Port Townsend , Everett , Tacoma , Olympia , and Bremerton in Washington, and Victoria and Nanaimo in British Columbia. As of 2021,

1768-479: The plateaus around the river, who then established more permanent dwellings along the river benches as their fishing techniques developed. The South Thompson has the watershed's oldest dated evidence of human habitation, at the Gore site near Pritchard . The human remains date to 8250 BCE, and bone analysis suggests the person was a hunter with small amounts of his protein coming from salmon. Archaeological investigation in

1820-636: The region is home to 8.76 million people. The first known use of the term "Salish Sea" was in 1988 when Bert Webber, a geography and environmental social studies professor emeritus in Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington , created the name for the combined waters in the region with the intention to complement the names Georgia Strait, Puget Sound, and Strait of Juan de Fuca, not replace them. The adoption of

1872-509: The river are within provincial parks , including Steelhead , Juniper , Goldpan , and North Thompson Provincial Parks . Some of its tributaries, such as the Clearwater , are more protected through large parks like Wells Gray . However, unlike major river systems to the north and east like the Columbia and Nechako , the Thompson has no hydroelectric dams or major man-made water diversions. Under

1924-509: The river during the salmon run. Trumpeter swans use the South Thompson on their migratory route. Rattlesnakes are found in the dry sagebrush regions of the lower river. Aquatic insects found in the river system are dominated by three groups: mayflies , midges , and caddisflies . Many of these species emerge with the spring snowmelt, which greatly increases the volume of flow on the river. The Thompson River and its two branches are mostly unprotected through parks or reserves. Small sections of

1976-793: The river is completely confined within Thompson Canyon, making for spectacular scenery. The Thompson River joins the Fraser River in Lytton. There is a striking stretch of dark black cliffside just downstream from Ashcroft and visible from the Logan Lake-Ashcroft highway is officially named the Black Canyon. Just below the town of Spences Bridge was the site of a major rail disaster in the early 20th century. Communities along this section are Bighorn , Shaw Springs, and Goldpan. The Thompson River valley has existed in some form for at least 50 million years; however, for much of its history, it did not drain to

2028-404: The river, and caused large, temporary lakes. An 1880 slide caused the formation of a short-lived lake over 14 kilometers long with a maximum depth of 18 meters. These slides have caused major damage to the rail lines and farming operations in the river valley. Heavy irrigation has been blamed for some of the events. The Interior region of British Columbia was first populated after the retreat of

2080-602: The shallower regions of the sea. The Salish Sea is home to 253 fish species representing 78 families and 31 orders. These species encompass one myxinid , two petromyzontids , 18 chondrichthyans , two chondrosteans , and 230 teleosts . In addition, the sea hosts 37 marine mammal species, most notably Steller sea lions , humpback whales , and killer whales (orcas). While mammal-eating transient orcas are gradually increasing in population, fish-eating southern resident orcas have struggled to survive due to low salmon populations and inbreeding. In 2019, this orca population

2132-640: The southwest into the Pacific Ocean as it does today. Geologists believe water from the river flowed northward, through the Cariboo region , eventually entering what is the modern-day Peace River drainage basin and ending up in the Arctic Ocean . This flow direction is estimated to have ended approximately 2 million years ago, as the Pleistocene era of heavy glaciation began. During the era of massive glaciers in

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2184-799: The term "Puget Sound", the terms "Georgia Strait" and "Gulf of Georgia" refer to the general region, as well as the body of water. The Salish Sea is about 440 km (270 mi) long and has a surface area of about 18,000 km (6,900 sq mi), which is roughly the same size as the Gulf of Riga in Northern Europe . This combines the total surface area of the Strait of Georgia (6,400 km or 2,471 mi ), Strait of Juan de Fuca (4,400 km or 1,699 mi ), Puget Sound (2,500 km or 965 mi ), Desolation Sound (1,100 km or 425 mi ), and various other bodies of water (3,600 km or 1,390 mi ). The sea has an average depth of 130 m (430 ft) and reaches

2236-416: The term, he said, would raise consciousness about taking care of the region's waters and ecosystems. Webber's efforts are credited with the official recognition of the term in Canada and the U.S. The Coast Salish are the indigenous peoples who live in southwest British Columbia and northwest Washington along the Salish Sea and share a common linguistic and cultural origin. The Coast Salish are seen as one of

2288-596: The transition between the Thompson Country to the west and the Shuswap Country to the east. It is fed by the Little River , which flows from Shuswap Lake , and is the main source of water for the South Thompson River , which begins at the lake's outlet at its southwestern end. The lake is approximately 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) in length, NE to SW, and averages 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) in width and

2340-428: The west to the eastern reaches of Shuswap Lake, as well as far up the northern reaches of the North Thompson river valley. The last large glacial lake, Lake Deadman, was drained by a catastrophic ice dam failure, called a jökulhlaup , in about 10,000 BCE. This event released as much as 20 cubic kilometres (4.8 cu mi) of water southwest into the Fraser River system, possibly depositing sediments as far away as

2392-413: Was 16 pounds (7.3 kg). By the late 1990s, steelhead populations began to decline due to a wide variety of adverse environmental conditions and overfishing by commercial and First Nations gill netters. In 2016, annual steelhead numbers entering the Thompson were estimated to be less than 400 fish. Low numbers have prompted conservation organizations and sportsman's associations to petition Committee on

2444-646: Was approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names on November 12, 2009, and by the British Columbia Geographical Names Office in February 2010. The French name Mer des Salish is also official in Canada. In a 2019 survey of residents in the general vicinity of the Salish Sea, only 9% of Washingtonians and 15% of British Columbians were able to correctly identify and name the Salish Sea. The region encompassing these waterways

2496-406: Was at a 35-year low after three adult deaths and no surviving calves over three years, leaving only 73 whales in the community. In 2021, an upsurge may occur in the humpback whale population with a record 21 humpback calves spotted in Salish waters. Sea otters have been increasingly observed within the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The mineral-rich waters of the Salish Sea are an ideal habitat for

2548-407: Was at the time exploring the Columbia River basin to the east. Thompson never visited the river that bears his name. The first documented traverse of the Thompson from Kamloops to Lytton was by Hudson's Bay Company governor George Simpson in 1828. More Europeans entered the Thompson River valley in the early to mid 1800s, drawn by the fur trade and small gold rushes . Others started farming on

2600-427: Was considered one of the premier steelhead angling destinations in North America. The river hosted large runs of both summer and winter run anadromous coastal rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ). In the late 1980s the runs were estimated at over 10,000 fish. The river attracted anglers from around the world seeking powerful Thompson River steelhead. In 1982, the average male winter run Thompson River steelhead

2652-410: Was obtained by the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806. The term "Salish" was originally applied only to the Interior Salish Flathead tribe living in the region of Flathead Lake , Montana. By the mid-20th century, it had been extended to cover all people speaking a similar language. The Flathead Nation continues to refer to their language and culture as Salish. A variant name for Flathead Lake

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2704-408: Was then carved by the advance and retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Vashon Glaciation , which lasted from about 19,000 – 16,000 BP . The retreat of the ice sheet revealed a scarred landscape that filled in with sea water once it had retreated beyond what is now the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Salish Sea supports an active and dynamic marine ecosystem, dominated by species suited to

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