A Monarch butterfly tagged last month by the non-profit Ventana Wilderness Society has been recovered – after having migrated roughly 20 miles from Salinas to Pacific Grove.
Other butterflies, which were recently tagged in Pacific Grove, have been found in Monterey, Carmel and Capitola, according to the society.
Tiny tags secured to the left wing of each butterfly – with a code and a toll-free phone number – are helping scientists trace their migration, one of nature’s most admired and least understood phenomena.
Tags were applied to 956 butterflies last month. Since Project Monarch Alert started in 2002, volunteers have tagged about 26,000 butterflies, of which more than 130 have been recovered.
The goal of Project Monarch Alert is to better understand and protect the delicate insects. The work, funded by Helen Johnson of Salinas, is part of a research project based at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.
For more information, go to www.ventanaws.org/conservation/monarchs.htm.
