Kimberly Blair

pnj.com

UPDATE: 6:15 p.m

The Casino Beach sea turtle light project is one of many projects to help dim light pollution aimed at protecting nesting and hatching sea turtles along the Northern Gulf Coast.

Ben Frater is a restoration biologist and Casino Beach project manager for Fish and Wildlife Service's Deepwater Horizon field office in Fairhope, Ala., who oversees the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Projects.

He said about $4.4 million of BP early restoration dollars was earmarked in 2012 for a project called Restoring the Night Sky on beaches from Alabama through the Florida Panhandle.

Most of the money went to Florida to make improvements at coastal state parks. The Department of Interior got a share of it allocated for the Casino Beach project, Frater said.

"This one was a long time in coming," he said. "We knew the lights were a problem for the sea turtles. And, finally, we had an opportunity to improve the parking lot lights. Gulf Power has been a great partner. And everyone is excited about this."

Frater explained how adding more lights to the parking lot won't create a distracting glow for the turtles.

"Sea turtle eyes are adapted to see underwater where they spend 99.9 percent of their lives," he said. "Essentially, they don't have the ability to see amber or red wave lengths. There is no response. They simply don't see it. That's how we are able to balance the needs of human safety and still have sea turtles not get disoriented by the lights."

The loggerhead sea turtles that hatched from a nest just feet from the Gulf in late September but died after becoming disoriented by artificial lights at Portofino Resort likely were attracted to the interior lights and TVs glaring from condominium units with opened drapes and blinds and not the amber-colored lights in the parking garages, Frater said.

Those lights replaced traditional white lights years ago to help protect nesting sea turtles.

Part of the Restoring the Night Sky initiative is to identify light pollution sources similar to this and finding ways to resolve those issues, Frater said.

Original story

Two lighting issues that have plagued Casino Beach for years are being resolved with one fix thanks to fine money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Gulf Power will begin installing turtle-friendly LED lights this month in the Casino Beach parking lot that will provide more illumination for pedestrians and traffic.

At the same time, the directional amber lights have a frequency that's not visible to turtles and should not district them, said Natalie Smith, a Gulf Power spokeswoman.

Hatching sea turtles instinctively find their way from dune nests to the Gulf of Mexico by following the glow the reflections of celestial lights — stars and moon — create on the horizon.

Artificial lights from street lights, buildings and homes are blamed for the deaths of endangered sea turtle babies that head toward the lights in streets, parking lots and sand dunes away from the Gulf.

Dozens of loggerhead sea turtles in late September died when they hatched from a nest on Pensacola Beach and headed toward the lights of Portofino Resort.

And nesting mothers often avoid brightly lit stretches of beach.

A total of 99, 79-watt fixtures will be placed on 38, 22-foot aluminum poles in the parking lot. They will replace 21 taller light poles, 35-foot-high, that shine brighter with 250-watt, high-pressure sodium lights.

As an added measure of protection, the amber lights will also be shielded from the Gulf side.

Once work commences, lights will installed first at the west end of the parking near Escambia Sheriff's beach substation and move east. Gulf Power officials said work will result in temporary closures of a few parking lots at a time.

W. A. "Buck" Lee, Island Authority executive director, is happy the lights will finally be installed to resolve complaints the parking lot is too dark at night from visitors and beach employees.

"Now we'll have plenty of light for Bands on the Beach and those who go to entertainment and restaurant facilities nearby and park at Casino Beach."

Department of Interior is paying the $470,000 tab for the project with money with BP early restoration money.

The project was announced more than a year ago, but Tim Day, Escambia's environmental programs manager, said the project got delayed by 10 months because it took longer to find the appropriate lights. Once they were found, the project had to be put on hold until after the tourism season.

Part of the money will also be used to purchase and install low foot lights along the parking lot sidewalks to make it easier for pedestrians to walk through the area, Day said.

"We'll get the parking lot done first and then provide the humane health safety lights to enhance the sidewalks that are turtle sensitive," he said. "This is a great project in terms of human safety and while being turtle friendly."