Results of the 2009 Survey of the Reintroduced Sea Otter Population in Washington State

The 2009 Washington sea otter survey was conducted from 13-17 July 2009 and included the inshore area from the South Jetty at to mouth of the Columbia River on the outer Washington coast to Pillar Point in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Biologists and volunteers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Makah Nation, Quinalt Indian Nation, The Seattle Aquarium, and the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium participated in the survey. Counting conditions this year were not very good with visibility ranging from good to no visibility for the ground observer component and poor to only fair conditions for the aerial component. Due to poor survey conditions it was not possible to develop a total count for this year’s survey. This is the first time since annual surveys of the Washington sea otter population using current protocols were started in 1989 that inclement weather has precluded getting at least one usable counts for the entire range. Therefore, we will just give a survey overview with some general impressions on distribution and numbers at locations where some limited counts were made.