The name behind the Strait.......

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Strait of Juan de Fuca

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is the principal outlet for the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound, connecting both to the Pacific Ocean. It provides part of the International Boundary between the United States and Canada. It was named in 1788 by the English Captain John Meares of the ship Felice for Juan de Fuca, the Greek sailor who claimed to have gone on a voyage with Spanish explorers in 1592 to seek the fabled Strait of Anián.

The United States Geological Survey defines the Strait of Juan de Fuca as a channel. It extends east from the Pacific Ocean between Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, to Haro Strait, San Juan Channel, Rosario Strait, and Puget Sound. The Pacific Ocean boundary is formed by a line between Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island, Washington, and Carmanah Point (Vancouver Island), British Columbia. Its northern boundary follows the shoreline of Vancouver Island to Gonzales Point, then follows a continuous line east to Seabird Point (Discovery Island), British Columbia, Cattle Point (San Juan Island), Washington, Iceberg Point (Lopez Island), Point Colville (Lopez Island), and then over Rosario Head (Fidalgo Island). The eastern boundary is a continuous line extending south from Rosario Head along Whidbey Island to Point Partridge and south to Point Wilson (Quimper Peninsula). The Olympic Peninsula of the State of Washington forms the southern boundary of the strait. Just south of Vancouver Island, the Race Rocks Marine Protected Area is located on an island archipelago mid way between Port Angeles and Victoria.


Sunset over the straitBecause it is exposed to the generally westerly winds and waves of the Pacific, seas and weather in Juan de Fuca Strait are, on average, rougher than in the more protected waters inland. An international vehicle ferry crosses the Strait from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia several times each day, as do passenger ferries of the Washington State Ferry system and a private high-speed ferry between Victoria, British Columbia and Seattle.

This strait remains the subject of a maritime boundary dispute between British Columbia and the U.S. The governments of Canada and the United States have proposed a boundary based on equidistance principles, while British Columbia argues that the submarine Juan de Fuca Canyon is the appropriate "geomorphic and physiogeographic boundary."

Counties along the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Clallam County, Washington
Jefferson County, Washington
Island County, Washington
San Juan County, Washington
Regional districts along the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
Capital Regional District, British Columbia

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The Strait of Juan de Fuca separates Vancouver Island of British Columbia from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.

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Where did the body of water and tectonic plate get it's name from??

Juan de Fuca

Juan de Fuca (born 1536 as Ioannis Phokas (John Focas) in Kefalonia, Greece; died 1602 in Zákynthos, Greece, often reported as Apostolos Valerianos), was a Greek captain employed by Spain to sail northward from Mexico and look for a northern passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1592, his exploration took him into the body of water, the Strait of Juan de Fuca (in 1787 an English explorer rediscovered the strait and in 1788 it was named after Juan de Fuca). His ancestors had fled Constantinople about half a century before his birth.

The Juan de Fuca Plate, which also bears his name, is a tectonic plate subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate along the coasts of Oregon and Washington.

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Juan de Fuca Plate




A map of the Juan de Fuca Plate

The Juan de Fuca Plate, named after the explorer, is a tectonic plate arising from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. It is bounded on the south by the Blanco Fracture Zone, on the north by the Nootka Fault, and along the west by the Pacific Plate. The Juan de Fuca Plate was originally part of the once-vast Farallon Plate, now largely subducted under the North American Plate, and has since fractured into three pieces. The plate name is in some references applied to the entire plate east of the undersea spreading zone, and in other references only to the central piece. When so distinguished, the piece to the south is known as the Gorda Plate and the piece to the north is known as the Explorer Plate. The separate pieces are demarcated by the large offsets of the undersea spreading zone manifested in the above mentioned fracture zone and fault.
This subducting plate system has formed the volcanic Cascade Range, the Cascade Volcanoes and the Pacific Ranges, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, along the west coast of North America from southern British Columbia to northern California.

The last major earthquake at the Cascadia subduction zone was the magnitude nine Cascadia Earthquake. Based on carbon dating of local tsunami deposits, it occurred around 1700. Based upon Japanese tsunami records, it happened the evening of Tuesday, January 26, 1700.


Cutaway of the Juan de Fuca Plate.

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Apostolos Valerianos


VALERIANOS, Apostolos, known as JUAN DE FUCA, Greek navigator, born in Cephalonia in 1531: died in Zante in 1602. For thirty years he served as a sailor and pilot in the Spanish possessions of America. In 1590 he sailed as pilot with a commander that had been sent by the viceroy of Mexico with three ships to discover the fabulous Strait of Anianu but on the coast of California the crew mutinied, and the officers were forced to return to Acapulco.



In 1592 Fuca was sent again on the same errand by the viceroy Luis de Velaseo, with one caravel and an armed sloop. In latitude 48 north he found a wide inlet, through which he sailed for twenty days, and discovered many islands. To the northwest of the entry to the straits he discovered a promontory formed by high pyramidical rocks, and, on landing, found natives clad in furs. Through the northern mouth of the straits, nearly 100 miles wide, he entered the Pacific ocean again, and, judging that his commission had been fulfilled, he returned to Acapulco.



Having vainly waited for several years for the just recompense of his services, he left the Spanish colonial service, and after his return, about 1596, he spoke of his discovery, in Venice, to an English officer, John Douglass, who afterward gave Fuca's diary, "Relación del viaje de Juan de Fuca y descubrimiento del estrecho de Anian," to Michael Locke, formerly English consul in Aleppo, by whom it was published (London, 1604).



This account of his voyage was mingled with such romantic and improbable tales that it was generally disbelieved and taken for a skilful imposition, until the trading vessels that frequent this coast in the fur-trade rediscovered the inlet and proved the general correctness of Fuca's description. His name was given to the strait which connects the Pacific with the Gulf of Georgia.



An account of Fuca's exploration is also given in the 3d volume of Purchas's "Pilgrimes." Duflot de Mofras, in his "Explorations de l'Oregon et des Californies " (Paris, 1844), and Navarrete in his "Historia de la Naútica," also mention Fuca's discovery.





Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001 StanKlos.comTM



VALERIANOS, Apostolos, known as JUAN DE FUCA, Greek navigator, born in Cephalonia in 1531: died in Zante in 1602. For thirty years he served as a sailor and pilot in the Spanish possessions of America. In 1590 he sailed as pilot with a commander that had been sent by the viceroy of Mexico with three ships to discover the fabulous Strait of Anianu but on the coast of California the crew mutinied, and the officers were forced to return to Acapulco. In 1592 Fuca was sent again on the same errand by the viceroy Luis de Velaseo, with one caravel and an armed sloop. In latitude 48. north he found a wide inlet, through which he sailed for twenty days, and discovered many islands. To the northwest of the entry to the straits he discovered a promontory formed by high pyramidical rocks, and, on landing, found natives clad in furs. Through the northern mouth of the straits. ' nearly 100 miles wide, he entered the Pacific ocean again, and, judging that his commission had been fulfilled, he returned to Acapulco. Having vainly waited for several years for the just recompense of his services, he left the Spanish colonial service, and after his return, about 1596, he spoke of his discovery, in Venice, to an English officer, John Douglass, who afterward gave Fuca's diary, "Relacion del viaje de Juan de Fuca y descubrimiento del estrecho de Anian," to Michael Locke, formerly English consul in Aleppo, by whom it was published (London, 1604). This account of his voyage was mingled with such romantic and improbable tales that it was generally disbelieved and taken for a skilful imposition, until the trading vessels that frequent this coast in the fur-trade rediscovered the inlet and proved the general correctness of Fuca's description. His name was given to the strait which connects the Pacific with the Gulf of Georgia. An account of Fuca's exploration is also given in the 3d volume of Purchas's "Pilgrimes." Duflot de Mofras, in his "Explorations de l'Oregon et des Californies " (Paris, 1844), and Navarrete in his "Historia de la Nadtica," also mention Fuca's discovery.

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