View of Tamarindo at night from Playa
Grande (Photo credit: David Sherwood)
Hatchling leatherbacks emerge from nests buried deep in the sand at night time and find
the sea by crawling towards the brightest horizon. The glare from artificial
lighting near Las Baulas National Park disrupts the ability of hatchling leatherbacks to find the sea .
Hatchling leatherbacks from Las Baulas National Park have been found wandering in the wrong direction. Some
hatchlings have been found on land crawling away from the sea rather than towards it, and others have been found washed up
dead on Tamarindo Beach, presumably after they hatched on Playa Grande and then swam towards the lights of Tamarindo.
In contrast to the hatchlings that are attracted to lights, adult leatherbacks are deterred
by lights. Female leatherbacks crawl up on beaches to lay their eggs and prefer to do so on dark beaches. Scientists
studying leatherback behavior at Las Baulas National Park have documented a pattern between the location of lights and the
place where the female leatherbacks lay their eggs: where lights are present, there are no, or very few, leatherbacks nesting.
The solutions to reducing and minimizing lights are simple. Many coastal
communities adjacent to sea turtle nesting beaches have successfully reduced their lights to help their sea turtles.
What Can You Do To Help?
Close your curtains at night.
Apply dark window tinting to windows and external glass doors.
Turn off all of your outdoor lights during the turtle nesting season
(October through March).
If you must use outdoor
lights, reduce the number you use, use motion-sensitive lights, and use "turtle friendly" lights.
