Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Why should lights be turned off on beaches where turtles breed?

+0
−0

I have a friend who lives in Orlando, Florida. She and her husband are avid sailors and travelers. They also hunt lighthouses, and have seen over 100 different ones. They're currently on a trip from Florida up the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Nova Scotia.

She's been seeing signs on some beaches in Florida and North Carolina prohibiting the use of artificial lights after 9:00 pm. This includes beach boardwalk lights, headlights, streetlights, and even house lights for people who live on the waterfront. These are mainly in areas where turtles breed.

Why would these rules be in effect?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/16568. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+0
−0

The Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) gives two reasons for keeping beaches dark at night when sea turtles are laying or hatching.

The first reason the STC gives is that a nesting turtle likes quiet, dark beaches. If she cannot find such a spot after several attempts, she will choose a less than ideal spot to lay her eggs, and perhaps even lay them in the ocean. This reduces the probability of survival for the hatchlings.

Having been liberally splattered with sand by a turtle laying in broad daylight (Aldabra Atoll, the Seychelles) as one of a ring of observing tourists (quiet and motionless tourists), I personally put greater emphasis on the second reason given by the STC.

Lighting near the shore also can cause hatchlings to become disoriented and wander inland, where they often die of dehydration or predation. Hatchlings, scientists believe, have an innate instinct that leads them in the brightest direction, which is normally moonlight reflecting off of the ocean. Excess lighting from the nearshore buildings and streets draw hatchlings toward land, where they may be eaten, run over, or drown in swimming pools.

I'd welcome more expert opinion on the sensitivity of nesting females to light. The adult turtles I have encountered seem phlegmatic, but maybe inside they are nervous. Also, I am perhaps reading too much into the behavior of the Aldabra Atoll turtle. Aldabra Atoll has only a small research station and very few visitors -- it is as unlike a Florida seaside community as any place on Earth.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/16570. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »