First monarch butterfly arrives in Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove, Calif. (KION) - Butterfly season is here! Many people are heading over to the butterfly sanctuary in Pacific Grove to see the beautiful creatures.
"It's so beautiful and peaceful and just looking up to see the butterflies," said Maggie Sloan, visiting from Fresno.
Butterfly Town USA, or as we know it, PG.
It’s home to hundreds of monarch butterflies that migrate to the central coast this time of year.
"The just the vibrant color of the butterflies are amazing," said Gordon Sloan visiting from Fresno
Monarch season is just beginning and the first monarch has officially arrived as of October 1.
Numbers are expected to rise from October through February.
"We as of this morning, we counted 704 monarch butterflies resting in this, Pacific Grove monarch sanctuary," said Natalie Johnston, the Volunteer and Community Science Coordinator.
In recent days, a cluster of monarchs has formed on one tree.
However, monarch butterflies are still an endangered species.
"Historically, there used to be tens of millions of monarchs that would come to California every single year. This number has been on the decline by over 95%. At least this reached an all-time low in 2020, when there were fewer than 2000 monarchs across all of California and there were none as seen here in Butterfly Town USA clustering," said Johnston.
Within the last two years, there has been a slight rebound.
"Our season is looking hopeful this year," said Johnston
Natalie says it was a scary time in 2020 when very few monarchs were seen because they are a symbol of a healthy ecosystem.
"I think the notion that if monarchs can survive 2020, so can I. It was a bad year for everybody. And so monarchs have always been a symbol of like strength and perseverance and have always been very culturally important," said Johnston.
Johnston tells me to help with the monarch population, it is important to plant pesticide-free plants in your gardens.
Pacific Grove has had monarch butterfly protections in place since the 1930s.
