Anna Maria Island’s sea turtle habitat is thriving, but sometimes people unwittingly interfere with Mother Nature.
Nesting female loggerheads and their hatchlings sometimes become disoriented by ambient light close to the shore.
Sea turtles — mostly loggerheads on AMI — use natural light from the reflection of the moon and stars on the surface of the water to find their way to the Gulf of Mexico, where they will spend most of their life. Only nesting female sea turtles come ashore.
Bright lights close to the shoreline can attract sea turtles away from the water, increasing the likelihood of death by predation or exhaustion, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
“Resorts and rental owners have done a great job of ensuring that outdoor lighting is compliant with FWC regulations, but we are still having some issues with lights left on after dark inside units and rental homes, as well as ambient light from the street creating ‘skyglow,’” Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring executive director Suzi Fox said.
AMITW recently encountered a lighting problem in Bradenton Beach that lead to hatchling disorientation.
The disorientation occurred the night of July 16, when 42 hatchlings emerged from a nest on the beach near 29th Street North in Holmes Beach. The hatchlings then crawled four blocks down the shore into Bradenton Beach, Fox said.
Fox walked the beach one block from the hatched nest in each direction after dark July 17 using an Encapsulite turtle safelight guide filter that, when held up to a light-source, detects whether a light is turtle-friendly. It allows Fox to determine which light source may cause disorientation.
“The skyglow from downtown Bradenton Beach was the brightest source of ambient light,” Fox said.
However, natural sources also might have been the culprit.
“Since no one was there when the nest hatched, any attributed causality is just an allegation,” said Gail Garneau, Bradenton Beach code enforcement. “The moon was at 88 percent illumination July 16 and, depending on what time the nest hatched, hatchlings may have been drawn down the beach by its light.”
“There are some variables that cannot be controlled, but human error is unacceptable,” Fox said. “People on the island need to be informed of the importance of turtle-friendly exterior lights and make sure they turn off or close the curtains on interior ones.”
Because loggerheads are a protected species, rules governing their safety are enforced in the three municipalities on the island.
Fox and AMITW volunteers have recently encountered indoor lighting negligence in Anna Maria.
Lights that remain on after dark indoors where curtains are left open in beachfront rental homes are the problem.
“When we get complaints from AMITW, the first thing we do is visit the property and let the renters know they need to turn off lights if they are not there at night, or close the curtains if they are there,” Carmela Sacca said. She is the Anna Maria code enforcement assistant. “It’s just about educating the people that aren’t from this area — after we talk with them, they comply.”
At the start of sea turtle season May 1, AMITW distributed information packets to island resorts and rental businesses to be shared with guests staying in their units or rental homes, Fox said.
The packets contain informational door-hangers for property managers to provide to guests at check-in. AMITW door-hangers explain guidelines for lighting during sea turtle season, including turning off indoor lights and shuttering windows, Fox said.
Mainsail Beach Inn, 101 66th St., Holmes Beach, prioritizes placement of AMITW door-hangers in each room to educate guests about the importance of turning off lights or closing curtains after dark, general manager Sandy Zinck said.
“We get visitors from around the world who are not aware of turtle precautions on the island,” Zinck said. “In general, guests are very curious about sea turtles and we find that when we instruct them, people staying in beachfront units are more than willing to help AMITW’s cause by lowering blinds and turning off interior lights.”
For more information about AMITW, contact Suzi Fox at suzilfox@gmail.com or 941-778-5638.
Do-it-yourself lighting check
If you wonder if sea turtles could be distracted by your interior lights visible in the windows or outdoor lighting, walk down to the shoreline, turn, squat and look landward.
The nesting female loggerhead crawls from the water and in something like a trance, proceeds to find sand that suits her based on compaction and temperature. She does not necessarily look up, left or right. So if you see light from near the level of the sand, it should be shielded. And outdoor motion sensors can help with security, while keeping the lights out when not needed.
