Only 400 Monarch butterflies have been counted in Pismo Beach grove this year. ‘I could cry’

When Danielle Bronson visited the Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove as a child, thousands of butterflies clung to the trees like a second set of leaves. When the butterflies warmed up, they flew away like a burst of confetti — filling the sky with their black and orange wings.

"They're just magical," she said. "I can't even put into words how beautiful it is."

Bronson dedicated much of her career to the butterflies, and she now works as a cultural and interpretation program manager at the state park.

This year, however, fewer butterflies than almost ever seem to be overwintering at the Pismo Beach grove.

As of Thursday, State Parks had counted only 406 butterflies in the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove — which is an unusually low number even this early in the season.

"This is looking to be the second-lowest year that I have seen in my entire lifetime," Bronson said. "Historically, we would have hoped to see at least 5,000 to 10,000 monarchs by this time of the season, so it's not looking to be a very impressive season."

"We're very concerned," Bronson said. "I could cry."

California overwintering sites see low butterfly counts Western monarch butterflies migrate from Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah and inland California to coastal California to stay warm and conserve energy during the winter, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation .

Monarchs prefer moderately warm temperatures, dappled light and protection from wind and rain — amenities offered by the eucalyptus and Monterey cypress trees in Pismo Beach, Bronson said.

"They enjoy the coastal area of California because it provides the minimal amount of freezing temperatures possible," she said. "We have the marine layer coming in from the ocean that acts as a blanket to keep the warmth kinda trapped in. They're very picky."

The Xerces Society recruited volunteers and scientists across the West Coast for its first-ever early season butterfly count from Oct. 19 to Nov. 3, conservation biologist Emma Pelton said.

The count showed drastically low numbers across the state.

So far, only about 7,000 monarchs were counted across all Western Monarch overwintering sites, she said.

"Broadly, the numbers have been really disappointing, and Pismo's not alone," Pelton said. "We're seeing really low numbers. It's not going to be a good year."

Santa Cruz had the only two locations with more than 1,000 butterflies.

The National Bridges State Park reported 2,152 monarch butterflies on Oct. 29, while the Lighthouse Field State Park had the second largest count of 1,087 butterflies reported on Nov. 1, Pelton said.

"There is no place where things are looking normal or good," Pelton said. "So that's sobering."

The mid-season count, formerly known as the Thanksgiving count, will start on Saturday and end on Dec. 8 — so it's likely that more butterflies will be counted before then. But still, the numbers don't look promising.

Last year, the Pismo Beach Buttery Grove hosted 16,044 butterflies at the peak of the season, according to data from the Xerces Society.

With only 406 butterflies so far, Pismo Beach should expect far less monarchs fluttering to the grove this year. This year could be almost as sparse as 2020, when 199 total monarchs visited the grove.

"The fact that we have only 400 butterflies, I think it's really telling us that this is going to be a really low year across the range," Pelton said.

Why is the butterfly count so low? Though the number of monarch butterflies visiting Pismo Beach has fluctuated over the past decade, one trend is clear — the Western Monarch butterfly population has declined by more than 90% since the 1990s, Pelton said.

With such a drastic population loss, the remaining butterflies are heavily impacted by the weather, she said.

Drought and heat struck California during late summer and early fall, creating difficult conditions for the monarchs to survive in.

"No matter where you are, if you have a hot fall, it's not good for butterfly numbers the next year," she said.

In fact, California had the hottest July on record, and September and October were also unseasonably hot, she said. Meanwhile, much of the western breeding areas for the monarchs face some level of drought, Pelton said.

"We see climate change just making them more vulnerable," she said. "It's a hotter, drier world in the west."

Outside of the weather, there's evidence that habitat loss and a decline in milkweed has reduced the butterfly population. Meanwhile, insecticides dealt a blow to butterflies, too.

"It's kind of all of it interlocking together," Pelton said of the challenges butterflies face.

To support monarch butterflies, people can plant nectar and milkweed, protect groves where butterflies stay in the winter and reduce pesticide and herbicide use, she said.

"Those are all things that are pretty actionable," Pelton said. "(The butterflies) can bounce back if we don't let it get to low."