Monarch Butterfly numbers see an increase

Each year the Xerces Society does an annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count.

“There’s volunteers all along the west coast, primarily in California that are counting over wintering sites during the three weeks around thanksgiving,” said Pacific Grove Museum Director of Education Ann Wasser.

Those numbers, which were just made available, show that almost 280-thousand monarchs made the long journey. And while it’s a big difference from the 1.2 million that use to fly to the California coast during winter, it is higher than previous years for most places.

“For Monterey County our numbers were not as high as they were last year. Counties farther north of us, especially Marin County, had much higher numbers this year,” said Wasser.

Director of Education Ann Wasser said it’s unknown exactly what caused the decline in population.

“They’re looking at different pesticides, they’re looking at habitat loss with milk weed which is what the monarchs use to lay their eggs on. A lot of people treat it as a weed so they pull it,” said Wasser.

And because of that, Wasser said you can help restore the population by having a green thumb.

“If you live here locally on the Monterey Peninsula the museum provides free seeds,” saidWasser.