Site Logo

Shark in the Park celebrates local sixgills

Published 4:00 pm Monday, July 13, 2026

By Bailey Jo Josie bailey.jo.josie@soundpublishing.com

Guests got to hold fins and jaws of thresher and sixgill sharks. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
1/10
Guests got to hold fins and jaws of thresher and sixgill sharks. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
On the left, the jaws of a sixgill shark, and on the right is the fishing bait contraption that scientists found led to its death. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Redondo Way South has the honorary name of "Sixgill Shark Way." Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
July 12 was all about sharks down at Redondo Beach. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.

The 2nd annual Shark in the Park community festival took place over the weekend in Des Moines, complete with local vendors, educational booths, live music, food trucks and sharks, sharks, sharks.

The salty Puget Sound air made for a Jaws-tastic backdrop to the July 12 festival, where Redondo Beach Drive was closed off between Redondo Way South — also known as Sixgill Shark Way — and South 287th Street.

Des Moines has been named the “Sixgill Shark Capital of the World” due to these deep-sea sharks choosing the Puget Sound, especially around Redondo Beach as a nursery ground during the summer. Divers travel from all over to get a chance to see these sharks near Redondo Beach and the Highline College’s MaST Center Aquarium, though they’re often not fully-grown.

The festival also included information on other animals that can be found near Redondo Beach, including seals, otters and porpoises and ways to help protect them, from keeping rivers and waterways free of pollution to properly picking up after your dog. In partnership with Highline College, the Aquarium, the city of Des Moines and the Redondo Community Association, the festival brought a large crowd excited to celebrate local marine life and learn about the push to have the sixgill recognized as Washington’s state shark.

To learn more about sixgills and other local marine animals, visit MaST Center Aquarium at 28203 Redondo Beach Dr. S., Des Moines and visit mast.highline.edu.

You Might Like