What are Turtle-Friendly Lights?
Turtle-friendly lighting, also known as turtle-safe lighting, helps minimize the harmful effects that white artificial light has on sea turtles’ natural instincts. Female sea turtles lay their eggs at night to protect themselves from predators and use the moonlight to lead them back into the water. Sea turtle hatchlings typically emerge from their nests at night as well, and they instinctively use the moonlight’s reflection on the water to guide them toward the sea into safety. However, sea turtles can confuse white light from streets and beachfront properties with this reflection, causing them to crawl inland. To reduce any potential disorientation, turtle-friendly lights emit a specific wavelength of light that sea turtles and other wildlife can differentiate from natural moonlight.
Turtle-Safe Lighting Wavelength
A light spectral distribution chart visually represents the intensity of light at different wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum. On a spectral chart, white light usually has a peak wavelength of around 450-460 nanometers (nm). On the other hand, turtle and wildlife-friendly lights emit a long wavelength of light at 560nm and above, which appears amber or red. The difference in color between these two wavelength ranges allows sea turtles to distinguish between artificial turtle-safe lighting and natural moonlight.
Who Should Use Turtle-Safe Lights?
Around 90% of sea turtle nesting occurs in Florida, with the rest taking place in the other Gulf Coast states, West Coast states, and Hawaii. Along these coasts, beachfront businesses, restaurants, homes, pathways, parking lots, and buildings should utilize turtle-safe lights to reduce disorientation and confusion in nesting sea turtles and sea turtle hatchlings. Full cutoff wall packs and sconces are suitable for tall beachfront apartments, condos, and other buildings where light must be shielded downward. Bollard lights with louvered reflectors are best installed lining piers, boardwalks, plazas, and pathways near the coast.
Qualities of Wildlife-Friendly Lights
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), all exterior wildlife-friendly lights should meet the following guidelines in order to keep turtles and other animals safe. For beachfront properties in states other than Florida, be sure to check with local regulations to ensure you adhere to all lighting ordinances.
Keep It Low
All exterior turtle-safe lighting should be mounted as close to the ground as possible and must emit the lowest lumen value that is required for its intended purpose. Doing this will eliminate tall and overly bright light fixtures that sea turtles and coastal wildlife could confuse with natural moonlight.
Keep It Long
All turtle-friendly lights must emit light with long wavelengths of 560 nm or higher. This will make them appear amber, orange, or red. Please note that true amber light is more effective than phosphor-converted lenses since the wavelength of most phosphor-converted lights registers below 560 nm.
Keep It Shielded
All turtle-safe lights must be directed completely downward or sufficiently covered to direct light beams toward the ground. This ensures that lighting will be less visible from the beach to eliminate unnecessary light pollution and prevent sea turtles from mistaking artificial light for moonlight.
Advantages of LED Turtle-Safe Fixtures
Unlike certain lighting types, like metal halides, fluorescents, and halogen lamps, LEDs can emit a wide range of colors and wavelengths, including those required for turtle-safe lighting. LED chips emitting a wavelength of 560nm and above are more effective than white lights using colored lenses. This is why the FWC lists red, orange, and amber LEDs as an acceptable lighting type for turtle-friendly lights.
Choosing LED fixtures for your beachfront lighting comes with many advantages as well. LEDs use significantly less energy than traditional lighting solutions, so you can save money on operating costs over time. Our LED fixtures have an L70 lifetime of up to 50,000 hours, ensuring your lighting will last for years to come. They also have integrated heat sinks to assist in proper thermal management to maintain the optimal operating temperature of the LEDs and prolong their lifetime.
