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'Haro Strait', often referred to as the 'Haro Straits' because it is really a series of straits, is one of the main channels connecting the Strait of Georgia to the Strait of Juan de Fuca separating Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada from the San Juan Islands of Washington state in the United States,
Haro Strait is a critical part of the route of the international boundary between Canada and the United States from the western terminus of the 49th Parallel segment of that boundary, and was chosen by the arbitrator in the San Juan Islands dispute (Pig War) over Rosario Strait,which lies on the east side of the San Juans.

Contents

History

Fauna

See also

History

The Haro Strait and other waters flanking the Gulf Islands and San Juans (really one archipelago artificially divided by the international boundary) were the home of Straits Salish peoples including the Lummi, Saanich and Clallam , but the route's natural importance as a regional waterway made it also an important sea-route for raiding and also for regular trade for all marine peoples of the Northwest Coast.
Haro Strait was named by Spanish sea-captain Manuel Quimper after his pilot, Gonzalo Lopez de Haro, during his voyage thorough it during his explorations to penetrate and map the inland waters beyond the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Quimper and his ship were the first Europeans known to have penetrated the Strait, although it is indeterminate in the log of Juan de Fuca as to whether he had voyaged into the Georgia Strait as well as the strait now bearing his name. Rosario Strait was near-simultaneously "discovered" and mapped by Captain George Vancouver.
Haro Strait's status as the location of the international boundary was not established until the resolution of the San Juan Islands dispute in 1870, when it was selected by arbitration over Rosario Strait, on the eastern side of the San Juans, which was preferred by the British and would have made the San Juans part of British Columbia, as they were originally viewed to be by the British after the Oregon Treaty of 1846. Much shorter than the Rosario Strait, though more difficult to navigate, the strait is the main shipping channel to the Port of Vancouver and other ports around the Gulf of Georgia from the open sea. Navigation through American waters in this stretch by Canadian vessels is sanctioned by the Oregon Treaty, which stipulated that commercial shipping south of the 49th Parallel in these waters would be unmolested. It is also an important location for the regional commercial fishery, as the bulk of the Fraser River salmon run uses the Haro Strait to enter that river.
D'Arcy Island on the Canadian side of the strait was a leper colony for Chinese immigrants in the 19th. Century.

Fauna

The strait is a favourite locale for whale-watching tours based in Greater Victoria and also in the San Juans because of the density and variety of its marine life. Killer whales, sea lions, seals and a large range of different species of seabirds.

See also

★ Rosario Strait

★ Pig War

★ Oregon Treaty