Longboat Key goes darker for turtles

LONGBOAT KEY – Turtles will not see as much light on Longboat Key when the town begins enforcing its new turtle lighting ordinance beginning May 1.

Like the three Anna Maria Island cities that have turtle lighting ordinances, Longboat Key's code enforcement officer is checking the beaches at night prior to the start of the six-month season. The town is working with people to retrofit their outdoor lighting to turtle-friendly fixtures.

When artificial lights are brighter than the Gulf of Mexico, nesting and hatching turtles can become confused, abandoning nests and crawling into streets and storm drains instead of the Gulf of Mexico, said biologist Rick Herren, of The Sea Turtle Conservancy, which co-sponsored a lighting workshop April 5 with the town of Longboat Key.

Federal, state and local laws protect sea turtles, Herren said; loggerheads, a state threatened species, are the most common visitors to local beaches.

Low, long and shielded

The aim of the ordinance is to make sure beachfront lighting is low to the ground – two to three feet high – or aimed downward if on a second floor or above. It should have long wavelengths, such as amber or red (not including painted compact fluorescent bug lights) because short wavelengths like blues and greens attract turtles. Lights also should be shielded so they do not shine towards the beach.

Beachfront residents and visitors should also shield turtles from indoor lights by using window tint that transmits 45 percent or less of the indoor light to the outdoors. People also can simply close their beachfront blinds or drapes every night during turtle season, which lasts until Oct. 31, he said.

Turtle-friendly lighting increases the safety of people as well as turtles, complying with the Florida Building Code that imposes lighting standards for walkways and pools, Herren said. Turtle-friendly lighting actually allows people to see better at night because it is not bright enough to cause blind spots, he added.

The cost of retrofitted lights and labor is often free to property owners with grants from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill restoration fund, he said.

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring got one of the first turtle lighting grants after the oil spill and helped retrofit 11 properties, director Suzi Fox said.

"Their electric costs went down, and their neighbors went into the program because the lights looked so good," she said.

For information on lighting fixtures or lighting grants, visit www.conserveturtles.org.

Turtle Tips

During sea turtle season, May 1 – Oct. 31, please follow these tips:

• Turn off lights visible from the beach and close blinds from sundown to sunrise; lights confuse nesting sea turtles and may cause them to go back to sea and drop their eggs in the water, where they won't hatch. Light can also attract hatchlings away from the water.

• Don't use flashlights, lanterns or camera flashes on the beach at night.

• Remove all objects from the sand from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting and disorient hatchlings.

• Fill in the holes you dig in the sand before leaving the beach; they can trap nesting and hatching sea turtles, which cannot live long out of the water.

• Don't use sky lanterns or fireworks; they litter the beach and Gulf.

• Do not trim trees and plants that shield the beach from lights.

• Never touch a sea turtle; it's the law. If you see people disturbing turtles, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

Bird Tips

During bird nesting season, March through August, please follow these tips:

• Never touch a shorebird chick, even if it's wandering outside a staked nesting area.

• Teach kids not to chase birds – bird parents may abandon nests if they're disturbed.

• Don't feed birds – it encourages them to fly at people aggressively and is not good for their health.

• If birds are screeching and flying at you, you're too close.

• Avoid posted bird nesting areas and use designated walkways to the beach.

• Keep pets away from bird nesting areas.

• Keep the beach clean; food scraps attract predators such as raccoons and crows to the beach, and litter can entangle birds and other wildlife.

• If you see people disturbing nesting birds, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

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