Monarch Butterflies Analyzing Cape May, NJ Fall Migration Data (1992-2000 ) With all the questions and concerns about the size of monarch population, let's take a closer look. The Monarch Monitoring Project (MMP) in Cape May, NJ has been counting migrating monarchs at Cape May every fall for 9 years. Their data may indicate how this year's monarch population compares in size to those observed in previous years. "Monarch numbers continue to be low along the mid-Atlantic coast," Director Dick Walton reported last Friday, September 15th. In fact, so far this fall Mr. Walton and colleagues report fewer than 3 monarchs per hour, on average! The chart below shows you how this compares to previous years. Mr. Walton has offered to share their data with you every week this fall, so you can monitor the numbers of monarchs moving through one location, and draw your own conclusions. What do you think so far? Try This! Using the data collected between 1992-2000 (see table below), make a line graph. Show how many monarchs per hour were counted each week during each fall season. Use a different color of line for each year. Here's a sample: To date, in which year was the monarch migration through Cape May the strongest? In which year were the fewest monarchs seen? Does the migration appear to peak during any particular week each year? If so, when? List the years in order, from the strongest to the weakest migration season. Do you think the Cape May migration data is an accurate tool for comparing monarch numbers from year to year? What factors might affect the counts, so that the monarch population might seem higher or lower than it actually is? Cape May, NJ Fall Migration Data (1992-2000 ) Number of Butterflies per Hour (Average) All data (c) Richard K. Walton and Lincoln P. Brower. (Used with permission of Cape May Monarch Monitoring Project.) Week 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 1 7.5 12.0 96.0 43.3 9.1 184.5 3.0 23.4 2.4 2 10.9 12.3 155.3 35.1 6.7 125.1 28.8 17.1 2.9 3 12.1 41.7 143.5 28.9 52.3 155.6 20.6 106.1   4 13.0 67.8 123.6 27.2 59.0 173.3 39.0 181.1   5 11.9 82.0 128.6 27.0 73.2 153.0 50.7 463.5   6 12.3 80.6 108.9 26.9 69.1 140.5 50.0 475.1   7 12.7 71.8 95.3 28.8 66.4 129.1 53.5 409.1   8 11.2 65.5 91.4 27.4 63.0 114.0 51.0 357.8   Year's Av. 10.4 62.9 85.0 25.9 58.9 106.6 46.8 328.6   Facebook Pinterest Twitter © 1997 – 2019 Journey North. All rights reserved.