Ten years ago I photographed the Monarch Butterfly migration near Santa Cruz, California. At the time it was common to see fifty thousand butterflies together. Today I couldn’t find a single one. Apparently they are around – a park ranger said they counted about 100 in the entire park. The decline from last year alone is 96%.
It’s easy to ignore melting polar ice caps, and dying Amazon frogs because they are so far away. This is less than an hour from my house – way too close to home.
Clearly there aren’t simple answers to the current climate crisis. This isn’t a reason to keep doing nothing. It’s enough to make me an (even more) rabid environmentalist.
On a happier note I went out with the wonderful folks at Sanctuary Cruises to look for whales and dolphins. At least we still have them … for now …
