SALEM: One moment, Jayson Thomas was on the Oregon beach with his 3-year-old son. The next, they were gone, swept away by a "sneaker wave" as his wife looked on.

These were but the latest deaths caused by sneaker waves. A leading expert says they are a particular threat in the Pacific Northwest. Tuba Ozkan-Haller of Oregon State University says there needs to be greater awareness to prevent future tragedies.

Ozkan-Haller is carrying out a three-year research project to devise a sneaker-wave early warning system that could be broadcast and published by the National Weather Service.