OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington has a new name for a very old waterway. The inland waters including the Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of George will now be known together as the Salish Sea.

The new named approved Friday by the Washington State Board of Geographic Names does not replace any of the longstanding identifiers, the Bellingham Herald reported.

Instead, it gives a label to something that has not had one.

The name has also been approved by the board's Canadian counterpart.

A retired professor of marine ecology at Western Washington University proposed the new name. Bert Webber hopes it will promote public awareness of the common problems of the inland waters and the need for cross-border solutions.