Sea Turtles and the Red Light Myth!
Editor’s Note: The following article was written by STPS Director of Communications Joel Cohen.
Sea Turtles and the Red Light Myth!
By Joel Cohen, STPS Director Of Communications
The Ethics of Artificial Light Including Red Lights on the Beach:
Decades of research have proven that artificial light interrupts sea turtles’ natural behavior, deters mothers from nesting, and is especially lethal to hatchlings. While specific spectrums of red light are less impactful, they still have significant potential to disrupt sea turtles’ natural behavior. Leatherback sea turtles may pay the least attention to red lights, while Loggerhead or Green sea turtle mothers may be alarmed. When a mother gets alarmed, she typically turns around and crawls back into the ocean without laying eggs. Hopefully, she will return, but she will use more energy than necessary, all because a human with a light scared her off the beach. Remember, these turtles are several hundred pounds and must crawl up the beach while dealing with gravity, which she only feels when nesting. She is also carrying around 100 eggs. The worst-case scenario is she has been scared away several times and must get the eggs out, so she deposits them into the ocean.
The Ethical Question People Should Ask Themselves Is This:
Even though a red light is less impactful to sea turtles, do I want to put any risk to them at all? In other words, if a white light causes turtles’ problems 80% of the time and a red light causes turtles’ problems 20% of the time, should you have either on the beach at night? (The 80% and 20% are educated guesses.) If someone still desires to go on the beach at night with a red light during nesting season, they should know it is not only unethical but also against the law.
The Law:
All sea turtle species that nest in Florida are threatened, endangered, or critically endangered. Many overlapping laws, including the federal Endangered Species Act, protect them. The State of Florida and Brevard County also have laws prohibiting any artificial light visible on the beach during the nesting season. The law prohibits artificial light (including red lights, which are artificial lights) from May 1st through October 31st. Some municipalities (currently Satellite Beach) also have laws in place or are working on updating their season to enforce the lighting ordinance starting March 1st. Violating Brevard County’s marine turtle lighting ordinance can result in fines of up to $500 and six months in county jail. This ordinance is part of efforts to minimize light pollution on beaches, which can disorient nesting female turtles and emerging hatchlings, leading them away from the sea. Red lights are not natural and are considered artificial and included in this ordinance. Red lights are typically used by researchers only. These researchers have undergone training and filed for and obtained a State of Florida permit, like University of Central Florida, STPS, Sebastian Inlet, and many others. This is the only red light legal on the beach, and researchers also follow special protocols to prevent or minimize the turtle from seeing the light.
Links:
Here is a link to Brevard County’s ordinance, and if needed, we can supply the State’s version, which is essentially the same. Most cities have also adopted their own overlapping ordinance.
Legally Guided Turtle Night Walks:
It is illegal to approach a sea turtle, so going to look for them is illegal, and the red light gives away what you are doing. Many groups in our area, including our own, work under another state permit to offer legally guided turtle night walks. We strongly recommend going on these walks to see a turtle, as you will scare fewer turtles and see and learn much more about them. You would also be legal. Reserve a spot here:
To Summarize:
Brevard County, and especially Melbourne Beach, are crucial to the worldwide population of sea turtles. While some organizations in other countries and states allow red lights, Florida and Brevard County follow the clear science and do not. The idea that red light is safe for turtles is an old myth that has been perpetuated for years and goes against all the hard work done to achieve the record nesting numbers we are seeing. Unfortunately, artificial light and red light visible on the beach are growing problems. This growing problem is causing all the turtle organizations to lobby for more enforcement, and this season we should see more enforcement.
Sources:
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