Vessel-based sighting surveys for cetaceans have been conducted in Korean waters since 2000. The supporting data estimate the abundance of finless porpoises along the west coast of Korea; however, they are insufficient because of the coverage and frequency of the surveys. A preliminary aerial survey was conducted in 2011, and the results were assessed with respect to a sighting survey operated by a research vessel in order to compare effectiveness and potentiality. A total of 110.00 nautical miles of effective efforts were made with three sightings under Beaufort scale 4 in the aerial survey, while the vessel-operated survey covered 403.38 nautical miles over 7 days without any sightings under Beaufort scale 4. The standard deviation of the altitude in this survey was 22.7 m, which was significantly higher than that of the referenced study of 4.3 m.