Surveys were done biennially from 1981 to 1989 and annually thereafter. Surveys are conducted annually during the first two weeks of July. The entire inshore area from Pt. Surveys are conducted cooperatively by biologists of the Biological Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and recently the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of the range is surveyed from a fixed-winged aircraft, but several ground stations are occupied each year.
Protocol calls for two surveys per day over a period of three days.
Thus, when conditions are favorable, six surveys of the entire range are completed. When weather conditions are unfavorable no counts are made. Because of the lower than expected count in 1998 and observations made by BRD researchers indicating some large groups of sea otters were resting offshore 1-2 kilometers, the protocol was modified in 1999 to include offshore transects. This assumes that there is little or no movement between the two segments during the survey period. Examination of survey data from years past and documented movements of instrumented sea otters by USGS researchers in Washington support this assumption.