The Sanctuary Ocean Count held 74 counts from 2002 to 2026, and each season has its own page here. We hold island figures for 22 of those seasons, site values for 25 and headcounts for 16, each linked to the document it comes from. The official record is on oceancount.org. This site is independent and not part of NOAA or the Sanctuary Ocean Count.
Island figures come from the annual reports for 2002 to 2004, from the press releases for 2008 to 2012 and from the results sheets from 2013. No source we hold gives an island figure for a single count from 2005 to 2007. Site values come from the sanctuary’s 2010 report for 2002 to 2006, and from the results sheets’ site tables for 2007 to 2026, which we typed in by hand where the sheet prints them as images.
NOAA dates the first count to February 1996 on Oʻahu, while the 2002 report says the count had run every year since 1997. The 2000 and 2001 reports describe a different count method, and our files start in 2002, so the pages do too.
Every season, 2002 to 2026
In 2010 the February count moved to March 6 after a tsunami warning. We leave out the island averages on the February 2015 results sheet, which prints 0 for every island, but use its site tables. The March 2020 count was canceled because of COVID-19.
| Season | Count dates | Island figures from | Site values from | Headcount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | January 26, February 23, March 30 | annual report | 2010 report | – |
| 2003 | January 25, February 22, March 29 | annual report | 2010 report | – |
| 2004 | January 31, February 28, March 27 | annual report | 2010 report | – |
| 2005 | January 29, February 26, March 26 | – | 2010 report | – |
| 2006 | January 28, February 25, March 25 | season mean only (2010 report) | 2010 report | – |
| 2007 | January 27, February 24, March 31 | season mean only (2010 report) | site tables (our computation) | – |
| 2008 | January 26, February 23, March 29 | press releases | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2009 | January 31, February 28, March 28 | press releases | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2010 | January 30, March 6, March 27 | press releases | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2011 | January 29, February 26, March 26 | press releases | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2012 | January 28, February 25, March 31 | press releases | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2013 | January 26, February 23, March 30 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2014 | January 25, February 22, March 29 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2015 | January 31, February 28, March 28 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2016 | January 30, February 27, March 26 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | – |
| 2017 | January 28, February 25, March 25 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | – |
| 2018 | January 27, February 24, March 31 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | – |
| 2019 | January 26, February 23, March 30 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2020 | January 25, February 29 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2021 | January 30, February 27, March 27 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2022 | January 29, February 26, March 26 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2023 | January 28, February 25, March 25 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2024 | January 27, February 24, March 30 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2025 | January 25, February 22, March 29 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
| 2026 | January 31, February 28, March 28 | results sheets | site tables (our computation) | yes |
Not every listed site reports on every count. The chart shows, count by count from 2007 to 2026, how many sites on each island sent in a site table, how many the sheet marked closed for weather, surf, a tsunami warning or a cancellation, and how many were listed but not used that month. A season’s averages use only the sites that reported.
The island figures are also on our data page, with charts and CSV files, and the methods page compares how each source averages and rounds its figures. To take part in the next count, register at oceancount.org.