On A Wing And A Prayer: A Butterfly Rescue On San Juan Island

Sea-level rise is expected to have wide-ranging effects on Pacific Northwest, and one of the region’s rarest butterfly species is in trouble.

In 2008, a storm surge wiped out the strongest remaining colony of San Juan Island’s dwindling Island Marble butterfly population. Now, researchers have the species on life support, trying to help the beach-going insect move to higher ground.