Uptick in flashlight use during sea turtle nesting season

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Sea turtle nesting season is in effect, and there's growing concern over light pollution affecting hatchlings trying to get to the ocean.

Ashley Chelberg is a key part of Coastal Lighting Impacts Coalition (CLICK), a group made up of scientists and nonprofits concerned about coastal threats from light pollution.

This group, along with the sea turtle conservancy, have observed a recent uptick in the use of white, unshielded flashlights on Florida's beaches.

Chelberg and her colleagues are working hard to educate the public.

"I’m looking for turtles (beachgoers say), and I wish that I could explain to them the science of lighting, but I only have, like, two seconds to share with everyone that turtles can be affected by this light."

Lighting is the indicator for hatchlings to go in the direction of the ocean.

"If there is other lighting that's competing with that bright shoreline, then they are going to end up going the wrong way," Chelberg explains.

And the more time they spend on the beach, the more time the nesting and hatchlings are vulnerable to predators, exhaustion or even death.

Chelberg says most people don't want to hurt turtles, but they get excited when they encounter them, and unintentionally might do more harm than good.

The group continues to study nests, such as one in Floridana Beach that was raided by a predator to see if lighting affected its downfall.

"What happened here, how was the lighting affecting this nest, and how many are surviving," Chelberg said while examining the nest.

Officials advise people to look for caution signs at beach accesses warning about using flashlights on beaches at night during sea turtle nesting season.

As of May 5, the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group has counted 447 loggerhead and 10 leatherback turtle nests in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Reserve in south Brevard County.