Santa Maria group notices dwindled butterfly population at Pismo Beach Grove
PISMO BEACH, Calif. - Groups visiting the monarch butterfly population at Pismo Beach aren't getting the same experience as in years past.
The butterfly count is one of the lowest on record.
Park officials say the peak of the butterfly population is every November, and it goes down from there every year.
The Santa Maria Outdoor Recreation Experience - or “SMORE” - brought their group to the Pismo Beach Butterfly Grove before their scheduled beachside lunch.
“We have a lot of programs. We go horseback riding. We go whale watching. Today, we're at the beautiful butterfly grove and looking for butterflies,” says Jodee Klug, with Santa Maria Parks & Rec.
On Tuesday, the group took note that there are far fewer butterflies in the grove than in previous years.
“Our docent was sharing that because of the last winter being so rough from where they produce. That's why so many didn't make it down here. They travel down from where they come from, Canada, I guess she was saying. And because it was so such a rough winter for them, a lot of them didn't make it down,” says Klug.
A public display at the grove gives visitors all the information they need as to why this year’s population is so low.
“There's speculation that the Rockies froze about a month early this year and they had some trouble. The butterflies had some trouble there and then some pretty extreme heat in Arizona,” says Steve Drew, who lives in Canada.
Park officials say that since the peak season for butterflies is over, we won't be seeing any increase in the population until next winter.
“One of the people I was listening in said that there was a plant that people could plant called Lantana. And if people put those in their yards, apparently it blooms and the butterflies have a little place to get some nutrients,” says Drew.
Fewer than 200 butterflies were counted in Pismo in early December.
“It's beautiful. It's kept up. It's nice, good day, but they are some, you know, flying around. They're active, but there's just not as many,” says Klug.
Local visitors to the Pismo Beach Grove, including the SMORE group, say that while the low butterfly population is a concern, it doesn’t affect their enjoyment of the central coast climate.
