About
this image:
There is long, narrow strip of land off the southern
coast Long Island called Fire Island, New York
(40.63 N, -73.34 W).
Last Sunday the monarchs put on a spectacular show
there:
Sunday, September 16, 2007
"For about 2 hours while I was on the beach,
looking in any direction there were butterflies
visable, all heading west. I am sure there were
hundreds, and possibly a few thousand butterflies
that passed us as we sat at the beach. People
were just standing and staring. It was quite amazing...I
have never seen anything like it ever!"
An ocean island is a dangerous place for a monarch
to be. The wind can easily blow a butterfly out over
the ocean. In fact, the wind probably swept these
monarchs to Fire Island in the first place. A strong
northwest wind was blowing the day before, as this
wind
map shows. The wind blew all day! From where do
you suppose the monarchs that were seen on Fire Island
came? The distance these monarchs must fly to reach
Mexico probably got longer due to this detour.
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