Date: 03/14/2011

Number: 1

While strolling and beach combing for shells on Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula, we came across five very large Monarchs that had washed up onto the beach. Three female and two males. Very sad and puzzling! Where did they come from and why did they die? Why so many in one place?

Harlen Aschen, long time monarch contributor to Journey North responds:
This would have been just a few miles ENE of Galveston ...
Monday morning the squall line that preceeded the front passed thru Houston with wind, some places to the east with high winds to 60 mph and hail, and that all moved down to the southeast past Galveston and on out into the Gulf while the front itself moved east and northeast.

I'm thinking there were monarchs on Galveston Island or moving up along the beach there or Bolivar Peninsula that got caught by the squall line and wound up in the surf. They might even have been blown out into the Gulf and forced down because the front came in hard. Anyway, that is what I would blame those monarch deaths on.

Bolivar, TX

Latitude: 29.5 Longitude: -94.6

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