Seemingly Innocent Beach Activity A Frightening Threat To Sea Turtle Populations
It seems like the perfect way to spend a pleasant summer evening with family and friends on the beach, racing around with lights and buckets in an attempt to capture the most ghost crabs; however, believe it or not, this is actually a fatal practice. In reality, as sea turtles make their way to the sand during the night, the presence of lights on the beach causes a massive disturbance, and they will not lay their eggs in such a situation. In addition, hatchling sea turtles make significant use of the water’s glare in order to find their way to the waves, and the lights create a difficult dilemma since they will be hugely disorientated. The Kiawah Island turtle watch team in South Carolina has been working to remedy the issue, starting with stopping the sale of the toys that are used for ghost crab collecting. One store even made the executive decision to remove the toy from their inventory in order to support the conservation of sea turtles. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says that although they do not want to ban the long-enjoyed ghost-crabbing tradition, they do discourage the use of lights on the beach. Nevertheless, if these practices continue, it will only further the decline of the sea turtles that have returned each and every year to the island.
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Photo from Bo Petersen.
