Through funding from the Sea Turtle License Plate Grants Program, STC conducted Project LIGHTS: Lighting Innovation for Greater Home and Turtle Safety as a public education initiative to dispel concerns about the safety and cost of sea turtle-friendly lights. Project LIGHTS uses four traveling educational displays to “show” coastal residents and visitors how sea turtle-friendly lights can provide safety for both humans and turtles, while also providing a substantial energy cost savings for home owners.
To help improve the implementation of lighting regulations, STC is developing a sea turtle lighting training program tailored for local code enforcement personnel. This hands-on, field-oriented program will train code enforcement personnel to identify the kinds of lighting sources and fixtures (e.g., wall and ceiling mount, pathway, pool, parking lot and garage lighting) that can negatively impact sea turtles. This training will enable code enforcement officers to properly educate property owners and recommend sea turtle friendly lighting alternatives, which limit impacts to turtles while meeting the safety and visibility needs of people. Local field trips will be conducted to view coastal properties with problematic lights and to assess possible lighting retrofits that eliminate impacts to sea turtle nesting habitat. As part of the training course, educational videos will be provided to code enforcement staff.
Download the Darker Beaches, Brighter Futures Lighting Guide
The Seeing Stars – Dark Skies Poster poster provides information on the importance of Dark Skies and Controlling Light Pollution.
What You Can Do