What does lighting have to do with turtles?

There was a time when sea turtles didn’t have trouble finding a dark, quiet beach to lay their eggs. Now turtles compete with tourists, businesses and residential housing for those same beaches.

Scientists have discovered that the artificial lights used to illuminate our beaches, businesses and coastal homes are discouraging turtles from coming onto the beach to lay their eggs. If they do find a spot it will most likely be less than ideal which may result in very few of their offspring surviving.

Turtles are born with the instinct to go towards the brightest light they can see which had always been the moon shining in the water; however, because of the bright artificial lights, they can become disoriented. When disoriented instead on heading towards the water they find themselves on roads running the risk of being run over or passing away of exhaustion and dehydration.

In fact, many coastal areas of the U.S. require turtle friendly lighting.

What kind of lighting is appropriate for turtles?

In general, if you follow these 3 points it will help the turtles find their way to the beaches.

1. Install light fixtures that direct the light to the ground where it’s needed; the lower to the ground the fixture is installed the better.
2. Make sure the fixture shields the bulb so that it is not visible from the beach.
3. The LED bulb should be either red or amber in color.

How Warehouse Lighting can help!

We offer turtle friendly light fixtures to illuminate your property and protect nearby turtles. All of our turtle friendly fixtures are long-lasting and energy efficient. Don’t forget to check with local ordinances to find which species may be affected by artificial light.