The Georgia Basin, Salish Sea, or Whulge are conventional names for the great inland waterway stretching from Tumwater, Washington to before the Johnstone Strait, British Columbia that was the central resource of the First Nations Coast Salish peoples who historically and presently inhabit the area.

The ^* (IPA pronunciation: ). IPA prounciations are conventionally enclosed in square brackets to signify. (Whulge) is the indigenous Lushootseed name for what is now known in the US as the Salish Sea and as the Georgia Basin in Canada. The large, dilute, estuarial inland sea includes what is now called Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, connecting the sea with the Pacific Ocean.

The lands of the body have been inhabited since they emerged with the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago).Dailey The ^* was the primary waterway interconnecting the greater Lushootseed Coast Salish Nations. (Culture area languages and dialects had variations on the name.) Together with what is now called the Cascade Range and the Columbia River, these are the defining geographical centerpieces of Cascadia.

The Whulge, Salish Sea, or Georgia Basin encompasses the inland sea and the land around it. It is one of the most spectacular settings in the world.Lucas Temperate for its latitude, the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island Rangesof the Pacific Coast Ranges shield from the Pacific Ocean, the Cascade Mountain Range from continental weather; together they surround the Salish Sea, contributing most of the entering fresh water (windward of the Salish Sea lie two of the few temperate rain forests in the world).

Humpback and gray whales, resident and migratory pods of orca dolphins are found in its waters. Mile-high granite faces tower beside deep, indigo fjords, remnants of uncut, low-elevation old growth forest survive on its northern islands. The Spirit Bear is found only in the remaining wild forests of the northern Georgia Basin. The sea and its shores provide vital habitat for the millions of birds that migrate each year along the Pacific Flyway. More waterbirds and raptors winter here than anywhere else in Canada, and five species of salmon use the waters as the gateway to their spawning grounds.

(The Pacific Northwest fisheries was once one of the richest in the world, second only to the Grand Banks.)

Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington are world-scale urban metropolises in the watershed. The human population of the ^*, Georgia Basin, or Salish Sea has more than doubled between 1980 and 2005. If this rate of growth continues (as it shows consistent signs of doing), the pressures on wildlife, migratory birds and fish, and the habitats these species require in order to survive, will need to be carefully managed to ensure the overall well-being of the ecosystem—as well as quality of life for the human inhabitants.

To preserve, protect, and restore, efforts are underway among federal and provincial governments of Canda, and, under the aegis of Environment Canada, in cooperation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (intergovernmental Joint Statement signed 2000). Government entities include Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Parks, First Nations, and more than 100 departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and academic institutions. US agencies in addition to the EPA include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and analogs to Canadian organisations.

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