Monarch butterfly count down, again, in Pacific Grove

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KION) "It was pretty amazing. It was like they were growing off the trees," said visitor, Rick McMillan.

Seeing the monarch butterflies was the reason Rick McMillan said he and his wife returned to Pacific Grove, every year.

"We thought they were branches at first. It turned out that they were the butterflies," said McMillan.

McMillan described the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary as he once knew it, years ago. This year, the sanctuary looks much different. A grove that was once defined by branches dripping with butterflies appears barren.

"It's a completely different feeling when you're counting clusters because you're having to do math and figure out how big the big ball of monarchs is. Now, we can basically count them one-by-one," said Juan Govea with the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History.

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History has counted the monarchs every winter for years. At its peak, as many as 45,000 monarchs were spotted in one day.

Govea said in 2017 the count dropped to 17,000.

This year, as many as 642 monarchs made it to the Central Coast.

"There are issues with where they can lay their eggs in the summer, where they're migrating to, heat waves in the middle of January, cold spells in February. All these things are the bigger issues," said Govea.

Researchers say climate change has often been blamed for the dramatic decline of the monarch population.

Although it's considered a global problem, staff at the museum said residents on the Central Coast can make a difference. People who live within 5 miles of the coast are encouraged to plant nectar flower. If you live inland, plant milkweed.

"The conservation of butterflies is really cool. I have my daughter here and I want her see them when she's older too," said visitor, Mister Braxton.

The museum said most all monarchs will have migrated out of Pacific Grove by mid-February.