Scientists and volunteers counted 233,394 butterflies at 256 overwintering sites across the West to track the threatened butterfly’s population levels, according to a Monday release.
Scientists and volunteers counted 233,394 butterflies at 256 overwintering sites across the West to track the threatened butterfly’s population levels, according to a Monday release.
For years, people flocked to California s central coast from October to February to observe thousands of monarch butterflies.
Recently, California State Parks released a draft of its 900-page Public Works Plan. The plan could affect Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area and Pismo State Beach in a myriad of ways if accepted, especially when it comes to the Monarch Butterfly Grove.
Before last year, the Pismo Beach butterfly grove was one of only five sites in California that saw over 10,000 butterflies yearly, as they sought shelter from northern winters, according to the Conference & Visitors Bureau of Pismo Beach.
The Pismo Beach colony is one of the largest in the nation and is run by state parks. In 1990, there were more than 230,000 monarchs counted.