The Bay with Four Giant-Wave Scars

Name: The Bay with Four Giant-Wave Scars
Genre: Documentary

The investigation discovers that 1958 was only the latest entry in a century-long pattern carved into the forest.

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Transcript

Water surged over the opposite wall of Gilbert Inlet to 1,740 feet.
On July 9th, 1958, Howard Ulrich's anchor got hopelessly stuck aboard the Edrie.
Lituya Bay runs 7 miles long, but its entrance is only 33 feet deep.
Its steep inner walls rise from 2,200 feet to more than 6,000 feet.
Trimlines marked the upper limit of total or near-total forest destruction. The image lingers on a boundary between absence and living green.
At least four giant waves rushed out from the bay in little more than a century.
The record reaches back to 1853 or 1854, then roughly 1874.
Around 1899, a slide, fault movement, or other disturbance may have caused another wave.
In 1958, about 40 million cubic yards of rock plunged into Gilbert Inlet.
After about a minute of shaking, Howard Ulrich heard a roar.
The gravity wave raced to the mouth at probably 97 to 130 miles per hour.
Two of the three fishing boats in the outer bay were sunk.
The latest and largest wave stripped trees to a maximum altitude of 1,720 feet.
The investigation reached October 27th, 1936, when waves originated in Crillon Inlet.

In 1936, witnesses did not see one giant wave—they saw three in succession, and each appeared larger than the last…

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