Monarch resurgence on P.E.I. gives environmental group butterflies
CBC
A P.E.I. environmental group is excited and relieved by the number of monarch butterflies it's been able to tag this year.
The Bedeque Bay Environmental Management Association was concerned for the butterfly population, after only six were tagged last year.
But crews have tagged and released about 350 so far this year. In 2022, more than 500 migrant butterflies were tagged before they flew south for the winter.
"There was concerns last year that this might be a resounding end to the monarch in our region, but nope, they've bounced back," said executive director Tracy Brown.
"Most of our monarchs are tagged and out the door and hopefully on their way to Mexico by now."
The low numbers last year may have been caused by a drought in Texas or the large number of wildfires, Brown said.
The group is also working with the University of Georgia this year to monitor for the parasite ophryocystis elektroscirrha that can impede the development from caterpillar to butterfly.
"We're actually taking scale samples from the abdomens, random samples from the ones we tag before release," Brown said.
"Those scales, when you pull them off, we'll set them and then we will actually be sending them down to the lab at the University of Georgia for them to analyze to see what the occurrence of this protozoa pathogen is on our butterflies in P.E.I. and Atlantic Canada."
Those results are expected in the winter.
It's all part of a three-pronged conservation initiative that also includes enhancements to habitats by planting native plants and native milkweed.
The migratory period generally runs from August to mid-September, so the focus now is getting the remaining monarchs tagged, which, Brown said, has to be done "very carefully."
Butterflies have scales, not feathers, on their wings, and it's crucial to avoid rubbing or dislodging the scales when applying the tag.
"And then you press it very securely, very deliberately, and then you let go."
Local politicians and waterfront users say the province's sewage plan for the redevelopment of Ontario Place could make a popular part of the waterfront a health risk for beachgoers, rowers and swimmers.
The P.E.I. government has halted plans to purchase more electric school buses due to the financial uncertainty surrounding Lion Electric, the company that manufactures most of the vehicles for the province.
A city councillor is suggesting the City of Calgary do an external review of how its operations and council decisions are being impacted by false information spread online and through other channels. Coun. Courtney Walcott said he plans to bring forward a motion to council, calling for its support for a review. He said he's not looking for real time fact checking but rather, a review that looks back at the role misinformation played on key issues. Walcott cited two instances in 2024 where factually incorrect information was circulated both online and at in-person meetings regarding major city projects: council's decision to upzone much of the city, and the failed redevelopment proposal for Glenmore Landing. "Looking back on previous years, looking back on major events and finding out how pervasive misinformation and bad information is out there and it's influence on all levels of the public discourse is really important," said Walcott.
Quebec's public security minister said Tuesday the province was sending more officers to the U.S. to help fight organized crime near the border.
Ontario officials estimate that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Canadian goods could cost up to half a million jobs, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday, as he called for stronger and more visible action from the federal government.
A 37-year-old man from York, P.E.I., who was reported missing in New Brunswick yesterday has been found dead, the New Brunswick RCMP said in a news release.
The number of Londoners seeking community housing is on the rise, according to the city's latest homelessness data.
The union representing mechanics and labourers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says 99 per cent of its members have voted in favour of strike action.
Last spring, Caio De Naday Hornhardt believed his former landlord had done him wrong, with a same-day eviction.
Blair Davis says he was in the paddock of his West Lawrencetown, N.S., farm several years ago when he first heard a buzzing noise and looked up to see a drone hovering overhead.
It's January and that means residents of Miramichi are experiencing a now-annual round of anxious speculation: will the Centennial Bridge close completely this year?
Police say a man who was shot in a parking lot in Lévis on Saturday night was likely not the intended target.
A judge has dismissed comments a Manitoba woman made during her arrest about consuming alcohol before hitting her boyfriend with a school bus because her Charter rights were breached.
Two Saskatchewan families say they felt more like hostages than guests of a resort in Mexico when they got severely ill and were pressured by staff to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for medical help.
Edmonton utilities company Epcor has dropped part of a fee charged to customers who opt out of the installation of new water meter reading devices.
Many, including B.C.'s premier, have called for a Team Canada approach to Donald Trump's tariff threat. But it seems some provinces are going it alone.
Homelessness in northern Ontario has grown four times faster than in non-northern communities in the last eight years, and new research suggests the region's rates could more than quadruple over the next decade.