Lighting The Way For Baby Sea Turtles With Halco Amber Bulbs

Dallas has started to offer selling Halco LED amber colored light bulbs to hotels in Miami Beach, Florida, in the hopes that they can meet the standards for Turtle Light Certification. The amber light is being used instead of traditional, white light to combat turtle nesting and hatchling issues which are usually due to artificial lights fixed on the beaches.

The nesting habits of turtles have been badly affected by seawalls and imported sand, and this has also changed the natural ecosystems, making some areas inhospitable nesting sites, and most of all, beachfront development has posed a formidable threat because the artificial lighting of beach areas disorients baby turtles and they end up dying from lack of water.

This has been a declared a crime to affect the turtles and their hatching activities. Miami Beach is a nesting habitat for these turtles. Annually, from April-November, sea turtles nest on Florida’s beaches. Female sea turtles lay approximately 100 eggs per nest and prefer dark beaches for their nesting; however, much of Florida’s coastline is understandably brightly lit. This poses a threat to nests, which are not properly hidden. Sea turtle hatchlings are instinctively attracted to the moon and stars reflecting off the water. Artificial lighting distracts hatchlings away from the ocean and towards beachfront properties and many hatchlings die before they reach water.