Port Angeles, the town that Howard and Elizabeth Griffin called from the Occupational Hazard, is on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, across the Juan de Fuca Strait from Victoria, British Columbia. A major fault line runs along the middle of the strait, and the two cities are on different tectonic plates.
Whip refers to the Emergency Position Indicating Beacon by its initials: E P I R B. It is generally pronounced "Eperb".
Peter Benchley wrote the source novel, and was executive producer of the television adaptation.
William Peterson and Larry Drake were both born February 21st, 3 years apart.
In the book, Whip's daughter, Dana, is in her mid-20s. In the made-for-tv movie, she was a teen. Missy Crider was 21 when the movie aired.