Florida: Dim lights, it's May ... turtles are on their way

Rescue recovering at Juno

By Jane Feehan
  

Each year, between May and November, thousands of sea turtles come ashore in Florida to build nests and lay their eggs. Before the heavy development and population of the coastal areas, turtle hatchings found their way back into the ocean by instinct, following the silhouettes of dunes and vegetation and light from the sky.

Today, many of these habitats are overshadowed by towering condominiums or other edifices of densely populated areas that cast artificial light, disorienting turtle hatchlings as they take their first steps. Instead of trekking back into the ocean, they head inland and succumb to dehydration, fire ants, ghost crabs – or cars.

This may be the reason – scientists are not sure – that the loggerhead species of sea turtles are threatened and green sea turtles and leatherbacks are endangered. To protect these sea creatures, lighting ordinances have been adopted throughout the state of Florida since the late 1990s.

Rescued turtle recovering in Juno

Ordinances attempt to diminish or redirect artificial lighting, though turning lights off is the simplest way to deal with the issue. If that isn’t an option, there are three rules or guidelines to keep artificial lighting to a minimum:

• Keep it LOW - mount the fixture as low as possible to minimize light trespass, and use the lowest amount of light needed for the task.
• Keep it SHIELDED - fully shield the light so bulbs and/or glowing lenses are not visible to minimize light trespass.
• Keep it LONG - use long wavelength light sources (ambers and reds) in the appropriate lighting fixtures.

There is also no solid data on the efficacy of lighting ordinances to protect turtles. Though lighting ordinances have been controversial over the years, many Florida residents have come to accept them. Residents often adopt protective lighting as a way of life for safety.

For more about where turtles recover from illness and injury in Juno Beach, see: http://janesbits.blogspot.com/2010/10/saving-sea-turtles-one-by-one.html

For  more information, visit: http://myfwc.com/media/418417/SeaTurtle_LightingGuidelines.pdf

Could turtles dim the Hillsboro Lighthouse? See  http://tinyurl.com/846le3u

Tags: sea turtles, Florida turtle lighting ordinances, turtle eggs, turtle hatchlings, protecting turtles

Saving sea turtles one by one - Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Juno Beach, Florida

Loggerhead Marinelife Center

14200 U.S. Highway One

Juno Beach, Florida 33408

Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. and

Sunday, 12-4 p.m.

561-627-8280

 www.marinelife.org

By Jane Feehan

What began three decades ago as one woman’s quest to learn about and protect sea turtles along the northern Palm Beach County coast has evolved into a cutting-edge research facility and veterinary hospital with an exhibit hall that draws visitors from around the globe.

Today, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach provides a temporary home to rescued sea turtles with injuries and disease or tiny hatchlings who have lost their way to the ocean after emerging from beach nests. One in a thousand lives to sexual maturity. With these odds it’s no surprise that green sea turtles and leatherback turtles are endangered species; loggerheads are in a threatened status.

On a recent visit I saw a recovering female loggerhead in one of the center’s tanks with gashes to its shell from boat propellers (see photo above). A much younger and smaller Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle – a species most often seen in Gulf of Mexico waters and also endangered – was rescued from the sea floor with fishing lines and a two pound weight wrapped around one of its flippers. Most of the flipper of another hapless creature was missing; it probably served as a small appetizer for a shark.

The travails of each turtle are posted at the tank in which they recover. Most of the patients are returned to the sea. About 200 rescued hatchlings were recently released several miles off the Florida coast. The center encourages any who find injured or stranded sea turtles to contact them.

According to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, the northern Palm Beach County coast is one of the most active turtle nesting (May through October) beaches in the world. Hats off to the center for the work they do and the interest they generate in ocean conservation and sea life. This should top the list of things to see - and to support - in Florida. It’s a nonprofit organization that survives on donations and the help of committed, well-informed volunteers.

The Loggerhead Marinelife Center hosts events, field trips and a variety of children’s programs. There is no entrance fee but donations in any amount are suggested. The facility, which also has a wonderful aquarium with living coral and tropical fish (see photo), is currently expanding to include more exhibits. Picnic tables are available – some with an ocean view. Copyright © 2010. Jane Feehan. All rights reserved.