Sea turtles have been around for millions of years, but light pollution on beaches poses a serious threat to this ancient species. Read on for tips on how to lessen your impact on sea turtles with better lighting.
Some of the most ancient creatures on the planet today, sea turtles have been coming ashore to nest and lay eggs for millions of years. Newly hatched turtles use the light of the moon as a guide for reaching the ocean to begin their lives, but with today’s highly populated coastal areas becoming a source of light pollution on beaches, the mortality rate for baby turtles has reached an alarmingly high number. However, hope is not lost for sea turtles—by taking a little extra care to eliminate excess lighting at night, we can ensure baby turtles always find their way to the water.
If you own a beachfront home, hotel, or business, you should turn off unnecessary nighttime lighting such as decorative garden and path runners, uplighting of gardens, trees, and the front or back of your home, and bright flood lights that are visible from the beach. These lights can very disorienting to baby turtles and may cause them to travel the wrong direction after hatching, making them an easy target for predators.
If you absolutely need to leave some of your nighttime lighting on, consider installing shielded fixtures to redirect the light and keep it from shining onto the beachfront. Replace bulbs that distribute light from all angles, like globes, with directional fixtures you can angle away from the beach to keep excess ambient light away from the eyes of impressionable young turtles.
Replacing bright, distracting light bulbs with turtle friendly lighting is an easy and simple way to reduce light pollution around beaches, ensuring baby turtles get to their watery destination safely and quickly.
The best light bulbs for turtle friendly homes and businesses include:
- Low wattage, low-pressure sodium bulbs
- Low wattage yellow "bug lights", preferably LED, to replace bright white incandescents
- The best bulbs for preventing turtle disorientation are red or amber toned LED bulbs, as these bulbs don’t emit light bright enough to confuse and misdirect newly hatched turtles
Special light bulbs are available to make the switch to turtle friendly lighting simple. Check out our selection today and become part of the sea turtle solution today.
