01x07 - Danaus plexippus

[bunniefuu]

"Danaus plexippus."

Are you seeing this, David?
It's the Danaus plexippus.

Is that the scientific name
for monarch butterfl...

David?

Hold on, Jane. I
have an intruder.

David?

Don't come on my side. I'm a
little busy right now, Millie.

Doing what?

Saving something.

Saving what?

Monarch butterflies.

Yeah. And...

It's really important work,
so I better get back to it.

What is she doing?

Being annoying.

- You meant the butterfly?
- Yes.

Eating?

No. Butterflies have a long
tongue that they use to eat.

Look at how it curls up. I
wonder if mine can do that.

Hold on, she's on the move.

Plotting intercept course.

How are you going to save them?

Carefully.

Monarch butterflies travel all
the way from Mexico to the US

and even Canada to
have their babies.

- Baby caterpillars.
- Right.

But every year there's
less and less of them.

We're going to tag one
so we can follow it

to see where they need
help along their journey.

That's a long way for
such a small thing.

Like I said, it's
really important work.

I've lost her.

Maybe try going higher.

Good idea.

Hold on, Greybeard.

David?

What is it, Millie?

Have you seen my key chain?

No.

- Can I borrow yours?
- No.

- Why?
- 'Cause it's mine.

Oh.

And besides, you aren't allowed
to go outside on your own.

David, you're going to want
to take a look at this.

Ask Dad or Pop to
help you find it.

Wait, what are those?

Zoom in.

Whoa.

"Whoa" is right.
Preparing to tag.

Ready, Greybeard?

David?

What is it, Millie? We're
trying to save the world here.

I lost my key chain.

Does Dad or Pop know?

I'm gonna be in so much trouble.

And tag!

You did it, Greybeard!

Oh, no. They're
coming right at us.

We got a situation here!

So do I.

Hang on, Greybeard!

Greybeard!

Chimpanzee down. I
repeat, chimpanzee down.

What happened, Amala?

Greybeard happened.

- Let me help you.
- No! I've got it.

You really should be more careful, Jane,
especially around other people's gardens.

Greybeard's sorry, Mr. Patel.

We were trying to figure out how to
help monarch butterflies when he fell.

Yeah, well, fall elsewhere. There
aren't any butterflies here.

But there could be.

I can't deal with this
right now, Millie.

Jane and Greybeard need my help.

But I need your help too.

Yeah, but Jane's
problem's bigger.

If we don't do something
to help butterflies,

there won't be any
around anymore.

But what if I won't
be around anymore?

And there should be.

Butterflies help flowers pollinate.
More butterflies, more flowers.

- Like Amala.
- No, no, don't touch.

Sorry.

Your butterflies
may like flowers,

but their babies...
caterpillars... Only like milkweed.

You should plant some milkweed.

I don't plant weeds.

It isn't actually a weed. It
just has the word in its name.

Like a whale shark
isn't actually a whale.

Like a chatterbox
isn't really a box.

It's just a little girl
with a flying chimpanzee.

Please take your butterfly
rescue mission elsewhere.

Jane.

What happened?

Mr. Patel doesn't want to
plant milkweed in his garden.

That's terrible?

He said it's the only
thing caterpillars eat.

No caterpillars, no butterflies.
That's right, Greybeard.

Did you tell Mr. Patel that
butterflies help make more flowers?

Obviously. But he didn't wanna
listen. Grown-ups never wanna listen.

Grown-ups and little sisters.

Maybe our butterfly wasn't eating
because she was laying her eggs.

There's only one way to find
out. Back to our mission?

I've located the tracker.
Sending you the information now.

She's already traveled that far?

Yeah. It says here butterflies use wind
to help them travel long distances.

- Wind, huh?
- Why flap when you can glide?

Hey, Greybeard, that cloud
kinda looks like you.

And look how fast it's
moving. Do you know why?

Exactly. Time to
fly like the wind.

Activating glide mode.

Speed increasing. Keep riding that wind
and it'll bring us right to our butterfly.

What did Millie want?

She lost her key chain.

Key chain?

When we got adopted,

our dads gave us each a
key chain for our new home.

That's so nice.

I wanted a toy truck, but, yeah.

Is Millie upset?

She loses things all the time.

It'll turn up.

- But you know what we didn't lose?
- Our butterfly?

Hold on, Greybeard.

She stopped moving. Maybe
she's resting or asleep?

Butterflies fly during
the day and rest at night.

It's daytime, so she
shouldn't be sleeping.

Maybe she's eating.

I don't see any plants here.
How are they supposed to eat?

They don't.

What is it?

She didn't make it.

Hello.

Everything okay in here?

Need a hug?

Yeah.

Okay. Both of you.

What happened?

We tagged a butterfly so we could track
its journey from Mexico to Canada.

But it couldn't finish the trip.

- Sorry to hear that.
- Yeah.

Do you have any snacks in there

- to make us feel better?
- Okay.

It probably died because
it didn't have enough food.

There were barely any
flowers in that city.

And I didn't see any milkweed.

It's the only plant baby
caterpillars can eat,

so it's where monarch
butterflies lay their eggs.

If we're going to help
butterflies like they help us

by pollinating food and flowers,

we need more people to
plant it in their gardens.

People like Mr. Patel.

Good luck with that one. He's
very particular with his garden.

David? David?

Millie, what did I say
about using my stuff?

Don't.

And what are you doing?

Using it. But I need your help.

I'm coming down to get
my walkie, and that's it.

Can I get that
snack to go, please?

Here you go.

Thank you.

Be right back, Jane.

Maybe a Jane Goodall
quote will help you.

Here's one.

"Compromise is all right as long
as your values don't change."

Okay. What about this one?

"If people don't agree with you, the
important thing is to listen to them."

What about them listening to me?

Continue.

"But if you've listened to them carefully
and you still think you're right,

then have the courage
of your convictions."

You're right, Mom. Mr. Patel
just needs to listen.

What? Huh? I don't think
you understood that quote.

Thank you.

You okay?

No.

It's just a key chain, Millie.

It says when we
became a family...

when we became us.

I'm not going anywhere.

But what if Dad and Pop get so mad
that they don't want me anymore?

I sometimes worry Dad
and Pop might leave too,

but it's not going to happen.

Promise?

A hundred thousand
times promise.

Let me finish up with Jane, and then
I'll help you find your key chain.

Okay.

You can borrow my walkie for a
while if it'll make you feel better.

Thank you, David.

Just remember, you're
borrowing it. Not for keeps.

Mr. Patel! Wait up.

I figured it out. You
just need to listen.

I'm sorry. I need to listen?

You, me. We all do.

If we're going to give animals
and insects and plants...

Don't touch.

Sorry. If we're going to give
them a chance to survive,

we all need to
listen to each other.

Butterflies fly through
three whole countries

just so their kid caterpillars have
a chance to become butterflies too.

If they can do all that, can't we
learn to listen? Just a little?

Do you know why I like
these plants so much?

- Their smell?
- No.

- Their look?
- No.

- Their color?
- No. Stop guessing.

I like them because they
remind me of my family.

Especially the
ones that are gone.

Who's Amala supposed to be?

Amala's named after my
dadi. My grandmother.

She was like the lotus flower,

able to stand strong when the
rivers swirled around her.

Your dadi sounds amazing.

Did your family ever
make big journeys?

My tata came here from Mexico and
my lola's from the Philippines.

Your tata traveled as
far as your butterflies.

Yeah, you're right.

Except, the butterfly
I tagged died.

I'm sorry to hear that.

But that journey she took allowed
her caterpillars to live, right?

You're right.

You know, you would give a kid
caterpillar a chance to live

if you planted some milkweed.

David?

- He's not here.
- Millie, where's David?

I thought he was with you.

I'll be right back, Mr. Patel.

Of course you will.

I think our butterfly was
part of something bigger.

- It was?
- Let me show you.

Can I butter-fly
with you this time?

You'll have to check
with Greybeard.

Let's go.

This is safe, right?

Mostly. Hold on tight. We've
got baby butterflies to find.

Scan for caterpillars, David.

Scanning. No caterpillars.

That doesn't make sense.

If she didn't have babies, what's
the point of flying all this way?

She did it all for nothing.

No caterpillars, but the scanner
detects some sort of life.

Setting course.

- Jane, look there. Is that a...
- A chrysalis.

Butterflies start
as caterpillars

who eventually make a
chrysalis around themselves

to transform into a butterfly.

Incredible.

And weird.

Incredibly weird.

Look, there's more.

We have to tag another one.

I'm not going out there. Didn't
Greybeard fall last time?

Give me a tagger.

They keep moving around.

Shouldn't have had that snack.

There's one up ahead.

This is gonna be fun.

What? What's gonna be fun?

Not fun!

Yes!

We did it.

Mr. Patel!

Sorry, but you were right.

- About?
- The butterflies.

They don't make the
whole trip on their own.

- They start it, but their kids finish it.
- Huh, that's fascinating.

My grandparents traveled
from halfway around the world

so that my parents, and then me
and my brother and my sisters,

could have more
opportunities here.

They sacrificed a great
deal along the way.

It sounds like your butterflies
do the exact same thing.

We just needed to listen to
each other to figure it out.

Look.

What a beautiful pot?

No. It's not about the
pot. It's what's inside it.

I expect them to
bloom in the spring.

- Did you plant a milkweed seed?
- A few.

I'm looking forward to entertaining some
international travelers and their babies.

Thank you.

What are you gonna name it?

Amish, after my little
brother who is very annoying,

but, like the milkweed, is
something I didn't think I wanted,

but now I know I
can't live without.

That's really nice,
Mr. Patel. Thank you.

Come on, David.

We need to see if our butterfly
made it to the end of their journey.

I'll catch up with you.

Are we close?

Okay. But let's
prepare ourselves.

She might not have...

made it.

It's sad, but I don't think
she did it for nothing.

Wait, what if I zoom in?

Is that what I think it is?

Butterfly eggs. And look...

hundreds of baby caterpillars.

They're beautiful.

All butterflies need is a little
milkweed help along their journey.

I can't wait for
David to see these.

Any luck?

Not yet.

Why don't you hold onto my
key chain until we find yours?

- Really?
- Really.

Thank you, David.

No problem.

- Here you go.
- Thanks.

Where do you think you're going?

Wow. This is so cool.

Just wait.

Now you try.

Millie?

Hi, Jane.

Thought I'd bring her along
to see the end of our mission.

Good thinking. Check
this out, Millie.

- Weird.
- And incredible, right?

Incredibly weird.

Help save the
monarch butterflies.

David, can I talk to
the butterfly guy too?

- You mean Dr. Patrick Guerra?
- Yeah, I want to hear about butterflies.

You're gonna have to ask Jane.

- Ask Jane what?
- Can I talk to Patrick too?

Sure, he knows all about
monarch butterflies.

But first, check this out.

Dirt?

Let me guess. Are there
milkweed seeds in there?

Yep. Mr. Patel gave me some
seeds he had left over.

I knew it.

I'll bring it outside
once it starts to grow.

We can get butterfly visitors, so we
can learn more, just like Patrick.

I can't wait.

He's here.

Hi, Patrick!

You're on mute.

- Sorry, that always happens.
- Don't worry about it.

Hi, Jane. Hi, David. Hi...

- I'm Millie.
- She's my little sister.

We're all so excited to talk to
you about monarch butterflies.

First question,

when caterpillars turn into butterflies,
how do they know where to go?

Monarchs, when they're born, have
all the information in their brain.

And what's really cool is
their brain is so small,

it's about the size
of a small pinhead.

What we're trying to understand
is how that all works.

Let me see if I have
photo to share with you.

What are you doing
in that picture?

We're testing a monarch
butterfly that's tethered.

It gives us information of which
direction it's trying to fly.

For example, is it going
north, south, east or west?

Really cool.

Did you always know you wanted
to work with butterflies?

Not really.

When I was growing up, I
wanted to be a detective.

As you can see, I kind
of do the same thing now.

I solve problems and I'm
doing detective work,

trying to understand how to help
monarchs and what they're doing.

Their whole migratory journey kind
of reminds me of my family's journey.

My mom and dad immigrated
from the Philippines

and went all the way to Canada.

And once I was an adult,

I moved from Canada all the way
to the United States of America,

where I now live.

That sounds hard. Is it
hard for monarchs too?

It's actually slightly getting
harder for the monarchs nowadays.

A long time ago, when
monarchs started migrating,

they were migrating
through open fields.

But nowadays, with cities, all of
a sudden the habitat has changed.

Now there are big buildings, things
that were never there before.

We're trying to understand
how we can build these cities

such that it doesn't interfere
with the monarch's migration.

What can we do to help them?

What's really cool is that
everyone can do their part.

Let me share my screen.

My name is Geneviéve Leroux,

and I'm a 16-year-old monarch
butterfly conservationist

from Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

I've been working with monarch butterfly
conservation for seven years now.

She's been helping
researchers collect data

for their tiny
backpack computers,

which allows researchers to
keep track of the monarchs

when they're flying,
in real time.

That's amazing.

There's also Aiden Wang.

He is 14 years old and lives in New
Jersey, United States of America.

I've been planting
milkweed for eight years,

and I started when I was six.

He's helping monarchs

by building more habitat,
as well as providing food

- during their journey.
- That's such a cool way to help.

Let me show you a video of
someone in Mexico who's helping.

Hi, my name is Joel Moreno.

We're in the monarch
butterfly sanctuary.

We started a nonprofit called
"Butterflies and Their People",

trying to help to
protect the borders.

I wish I worked at
a butterfly reserve.

Me too.

Everyone works together

to finish this epic relay
race to help the monarchs.

And you know what? It connects
us all as a global community.

We're starting by growing
milkweed with our neighbors.

- That's awesome.
- Thanks, Patrick.

It was nice talking to you.

Remember, it doesn't matter what you do,
whether it's really small or really large,

it all adds up.

- Thank you. Bye.
- See ya. Bye.

- Bye, Patrick.
- Bye.

Can we see if Mr. Patel has
any leftover seeds for us?

Yeah, I'm sure he'd love
another visit from us. Let's go.