The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) created maps detailing the locations of important seabird and mammal areas along the Washington coast and conducted marine mammal aerial surveys. WDFW identified key life history locations including seabird nesting and marine mammal haulouts. Additionally, WDFW estimated population sizes and trends for rare and recovering populations of seabirds and marine mammals. This project provided an opportunity to update existing data, which can help consider the potential interactions between wildlife uses and human uses in the marine environment.

An example of the first draft of species distribution maps are shown in the figure below – including seabird colonies, seal and sea lion haulouts, sea otter distribution, and encounter rates of seabirds and mammals (August, 2015).

For more information, read the final reports on seabirds and marine mammals, and pinnipeds and sea otters.