By using proper LED lighting products, great steps are being made to minimize the light pollution on the wildlife.

What is wildlife & turtle friendly lights?
Wildlife & turtle friendly lights is lighting specifically designed to minimize the ecological impact that the lightings can have on turtles and wildlife, especially near oceans and beaches.

Why would we need Turtle Friendly lights?
As we expand along our coasts, our infrastructure negatively impacts local wildlife in the form of light pollution. the brighter night skies disrupt the navigational tools some animals use to migrate or move, such as sea turtles or migratory birds. Lighting on the beach can lead sea turtles away from the moon-light sea, and drive them away from the beach and then to their deaths.

How does wildlife & turtle friendly lights help?
Turtle friendly lighting avoids unnecessarily bright coastal illumination that affects sea turtle hatchling and other marine lives activities. They usually operates at a certain wavelength, like a monochromatic amber light of 590-595nm. In addition to that, wildlife lighting are designed to be shielded, kept low to the ground and low-wattage, which can help to minimize the bad lighting effects on surrounding marine lives.



How can we choose wildlife & turtle friendly lighting products properly?
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends beachfront property owners follow the three golden rules, "Low-Shielded-Long" when installing or modifying lights. All three must be used in combination to be effective, as they are all equally important! See here for FWC sea turtle lighting guidelines.

Acceptable Lamps / Bulbs
All fixtures visible from the beach should have a long-wavelength lamp – a bulb that looks amber or red because it only produces light with wavelengths of 560 nm or higher. White light such as metal halide, halogen, fluorescent, mercury vapor and incandescent lamps can disorient nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings, leading them away from the water. The following fixtures will minimize – but not totally remove – the risk of disorientation if properly installed in a well shielded, downward directed fixture.
• Low Pressure Sodium (LPS): 18W, 35W
• Red, Orange or Amber LED (true red, orange or amber diodes, NOT FILTERS)
• True red neon
• Other light sources that produce light of 560 nm or greater

How to make wildlife & turtle friendly lights really work?
The benefits of wildlife & turtle friendly lights has been well-documented and well-deployed. Though, some studies and experiments stress that the replacement of light bulbs with amber or even red lights, which are thought to be "turtle-friendly", is not enough to protect sea turtles. All other light pollution management practices, including switching lights off, lowering, and shading them so that they are not visible from the beach, are necessary to protect sea turtles from the severe effects of light pollution. In addition to that, to choose the proper and real monochromatic light source (NOT FILTERS) lighing products is most crucial.

Let's explore how can we protect the wildlife by means of using proper LED lighting.