It was about twenty years ago when a marine biologist came up with a shared name for the cold waters that separate Vancouver Island from the continental mainland.

Not content with Georgia Strait, Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Bert Webber dubbed it all the Salish Sea after a coastal aboriginal tribe.

The Washington state resident failed to sway geographical naming authorities, since nobody was actually using the term in 1990, but he did succeed in planting the seed of a new geographic identity.

"Salish Sea" crept into the lexicon of researchers and fishermen, of aboriginal elders and writers, until last month his state approved adding it to maps, alongside the three earlier names. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names backed the addition on Thursday and approval in Canada is also expected.

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