Oregon Field Guide

Boat Building, Sixgill Sharks, Tsunami Update

It takes an expert to build a traditional, seaworthy boat from scratch, right? See how a group of complete amateurs come together to hand-build a traditional style 12 person skin-on-frame "umiak" in just one week. Sixgill Sharks which normally spend their lives at the bottom of the world’s oceans have been found living in the relatively shallow waters of Puget Sound. Recreational divers and researchers lure sixgill sharks in for up close encounters. It’s believed Puget Sound is a sixgill shark nursery: a safe place to give birth and raise hundreds or perhaps a thousand or more young sharks. There has never been a report of a sixgill attack on a human. There’s research to show that the tsunami risk is far more severe than scientists previously thought. We look at Indian oral tradition recounting tsunamis that seem eerily accurate in light of new research. We look at the evidence that proves the risk is great, and what is being done about it in coastal communities.