Bright Lights Cause Death to Baby Sea Turtles

M.A. Dworkin

St. Croix - Hatchling Sea Turtle disorientations cause their early death every year around this time on St. Croix. This tragedy is due to problematic landward lights that lead the babies away from the water instead of towards it. 

After hatchlings emerge from their nest, they go towards the brightest horizon, which in a natural environment is the ocean. With increasing coastal development, bright inland lights are often visible from the beach and can cause hatchlings to head in the wrong direction.

Any artificial light, visible from the beach can disorient hatchlings. This includes interior and exterior lights from beachfront properties, streetlights, parking lot lights, car headlights, flashlights, and sky glow. It’s important to limit the use of lights that can be seen from the beach during sea turtle nesting and hatching season. Currently, it is still Green and Hawksbill hatchling season on St. Croix. 

A series of tragic incidents recently occurred at the Mason Pool in Frederiksted where bright lights were installed in the parking lot instead of the recommended red lights that run along Strand Street. This oversight in the light installation very probably caused several Green Turtle hatchlings to be crushed to death by vehicles moving through the parking lot. 

STAR (Sea Turtle Assistance and Rescue) quickly came to the rescue of the Sea turtles; and after finding the nest of baby Green Sea Turtles, excavated the nest to check to see if there were any hatchlings trapped inside. STAR did noy find any live hatchlings probably because it had been several days since the nest hatched.

in order to be considerate to fellow creatures, when using lights near the beach, follow these three key rules to minimize the chance of disorientation.

1. Keep it low. Choose lights with lower wattage and lumens, and position them close to the ground. This reduces their visibility from the beach.

2. Keep it shielded. Block lights from reaching the beach and direct light down where it’s needed. Native coastal vegetation, such as seagrape, can serve as a natural barrier to bright artificial light and also provides important nesting habitat for the Critically Endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle.

3. Keep it long. Sea turtles are less attracted to long-wavelength lights (over 560 nanometers), which appear amber or red.

If you see hatchlings going the wrong way please call STAR’s 24/7 stranding hotline at 340-690-0474.