After 9, it’s turtle time - help keep the beaches dark all summer long, the city reported.įlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Foundation's Certified Wildlife Lighting logo. Protect sea turtles by turning lights off after dark, shielding seaward-facing light fixtures and ensuring that all exterior beachfront lighting is compliant with the city’s beachfront lighting regulations. This turtle-friendly lighting is not easily detected by sea turtles, but still provides sufficient lighting for human safety. The public can do its part to minimize artificial lighting and disturbance by using long-wavelength light (560 nanometers or greater orange, red, or amber LED) and shielded downward-facing fixtures. These disturbances may cause adult female turtles to become disoriented leading to a false crawl, where the female fails to lay her eggs and returns to the Gulf. A hatchling or adult sea turtle can also become confused by artificial light and become exhausted or dehydrated on the beach. They disrupt a sea turtle’s natural sea-finding behavior, causing it to crawl toward the light instead of the ocean, leaving the hatchling vulnerable to the elements, predators, and in danger of being crushed by vehicles, the city reported. Artificial lights may cause them to crawl away from the Gulf and toward a light source on land.Īrtificial lights that are visible from the beach pose a deadly threat to sea turtles. Hatchlings emerge after dark, using the light of the night sky over the sea to navigate to the water. One of the greatest threats is artificial lighting, which caused thousands of hatchlings to die each year on Florida beaches. The city reported that sea turtles face potentially lethal disturbances on the coastline, including boat strikes, entanglement in fishing line and debris, suffocation from beach litter, and disorientation from artificial lighting that directly interferes with their health, safety and nesting activities.
The city and SCCF ask beach-goers to keep Sanibel beaches dark and free of disturbance for the nesting sea turtles and shorebirds as they enjoy the sanctuary barrier island.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and its team of volunteers monitor the beaches in partnership with the city for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds. Sanibel’s sea turtle nesting period ranges from April 15 to Oct. The city of Sanibel asked for the public’s continued compliance with its sea turtle protection lighting ordinances and hopes to uphold the island’s reputation as one of the darkest and most “turtle-friendly” beaches in Florida.