Date: 10/15/2011
Number: 500
Hundreds and hundreds of dead and dying monarchs on the beaches of Lake Michigan from Ludington to Manistee. They are being buried alive in the sand due to gale force winds for the last 3 days. We took no pictures. It just was a difficult event to witness. For the past 3 days we've been down on the beaches trying to relocate as many as we could to the back side of the dune, out of the wind. The worst part is that many only "look" dead in the sand. When you lift up the sand they start moving. I went down to Ludington State Park this morning and walked about 1/2 mile down the beach and only found 3 today. They were in good shape physically compared to the ones that we've been seeing. So put them in my pocket and walked them out to some beach grass away from the wind. The worst area in recent days was a remote beach called Magoon Creek Nature Area about 4 miles south of the city of Manistee city limits. We rescued as many as we could on the beach itself, carrying them up the dune. Then I realized that almost every other blade of beach grass had a monarch attached to it, totally battered, in most cases no wings, only the skeletal outlines of the wings, but still holding on for dear life. Just awful, awful stuff. Honestly, the numbers are enormous, going on for miles and miles and miles.
We've so enjoyed the huge numbers of Monarchs's here in Ludington all summer. So this event is just so sad. But glad we could let someone know what was/is going on. Winds have died down temporarily for today only. Gale warnings begin again tomorrow.
Editor's Note: Stranding observation at peak on Saturday, Oct. 15th. This account was written Oct. 18 & 19, 2011.
Sample wind map (for 10/17/11)
Ludington, MI
Latitude: 44 Longitude: -86.4
Observed by: Jennifer
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