Coastal Glow and Sea Turtles

Red Hen Technology to Address Sea Turtle Lighting Issues

When baby sea turtles emerge from their nests, they can easily become disoriented by lights on the beach. Instead of crawling toward the ocean, they move toward land and can become entrapped in beach furniture, killed by predators or die of desiccation when the sun rises. Sea2Shore, with a grant from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, is developing a novel methodology to assist wildlife managers with reducing sea turtle mortality caused by lighting of turtle nesting beaches.

Sea2Shore biologists are flying at night along the coast with a special light meter and video camera system to record relative light levels.

The “Red Hen System” then integrates position (from GPS), video imagery, and localized light levels. The data will allow managers to identify illumination "hotspots" and coastal glow problem areas in near real-time. The data can be used to reduce beach lighting in critical areas and increase the survival of baby sea turtles as they emerge from their nests.