Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles are protected by the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida Statute Chapter 370. It is illegal to harm or harass sea turtles, their nests, or hatchlings. The City of Miami Beach is a nesting habitat for three species of protected sea turtles; the Loggerhead, Green, and Leatherback.

Sea turtle nesting season in the State of Florida occurs between May 1 and October 31. However, turtle nesting season begins on April 1 for Miami Beach to account for the earlier leatherback nesting season.

Although turtles prefer dark beaches, many nest on lighted shores due to the lack of dark beaches. This jeopardizes hatchlings, which are instinctively attracted to bright lights. The City of Miami Beach has adopted a Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance to minimize the impact of artificial lighting on hatchlings and nesting sea turtles and thereby protect the endangered species which frequently visit its beaches. The Ordinance requires light management on private and public lands to prevent light pollution that is problematic for sea turtles and other nocturnal animals.

Artificial Lighting

Sea turtles naturally prefer dark beaches to nest at, but often resort to nesting on lighted shores due to the lack of dark beaches. The key distinction sea turtles make between land and water is primarily based on the stark contrast between the darker dunes and the brighter sea. Artificial lighting near beaches presents a significant hazard. It confuses sea turtle hatchlings, leading them to mistakenly crawl toward the artificial lights instead of heading to the ocean.

Beachfront artificial lighting poses a serious threat by disorienting the hatchlings, causing them to crawl away from the ocean and toward the artificial light. To minimize this impact on hatchlings and nesting turtles, the City of Miami Beach has adopted the Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance requiring light management on private and public lands to prevent light pollution that is problematic for sea turtles and other nocturnal animals.

Sea Turtles and the Beach Ecosystem

Sea Turtles are protected by the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida Statute Chapter 370. It is illegal to harm or harass sea turtles, their nests, or hatchlings.

Miami Beach is a crucial nesting habitat for the Loggerhead, Green, and Leatherback sea turtle. These three species visit the shores of Miami beach annually starting around April and extending through early November, laying around 100 eggs in a nest and between 3 to 7 nests during the summer nesting season.

It is important not to disturb hatchlings, eggs, or nests since hatchlings need to crawl to the sea unimpeded. Touching nesting females, taking flash pictures of nesting females or hatchlings, or digging into nests is prohibited by law. If you observe someone harassing a nesting or hatchling sea turtle, contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) Law Enforcement at (888) 404-FWCC (3922) or *FWC on cellular phones.

Sea Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance

On September 6, 2006, the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 2006-3525 mandating the restriction of artificial lighting during nesting season on our beaches between April 1 and October 31.

To minimize disturbance to sea turtles and their nests, the reduction of artificial light sources from properties that may visible from the beach is required. Light pollution from adjacent properties disorients nesting adults and hatchlings because sea turtles mistake artificial lighting for the reflection of the night sky on the water. Although there is no substitute for a naturally dark sky, there are practices that our community can follow to improve the nesting conditions for marine turtles that lay their eggs every year on our beaches.

Oceanfront properties can comply with the ordinance by turning off all unnecessary lighting
or keeping the blinds closed at night. We also recommend the installation of tinted glass or shades on all windows and glass doors facing or within line of sight from the beach. Any light fixtures located on the exterior of the property can also be modified or replaced to decrease disorientation and improve nesting habits through the installation of indirect low-profile lighting fixtures and bulbs. Existing fixtures can also be shielded or repositioned so that the point source of the light or any reflective surface is no longer visible from the beach. To obtain more information on sea turtle lighting please visit: http://www.myfwc.com/

View or download the ordinance below:

2006-3525 Ordinance

Flip the Switch: Save the Turtles

Beachfront artificial lighting poses a serious threat by disorienting the hatchlings, causing them to crawl away from the ocean and toward the artificial light. There are ways that beach front property owners can modify their lights to prevent them from being seen from the beach. Multiple solutions may need to be used to prevent sea turtle disorientation.
- Keep it Low: Keep outdoor lighting as low as possible to the ground for the needed purpose.
- Keep it Long: Select lamps/bulbs that produce only long wavelength light (560 nm or greater, which is amber, orange, or red). The best technology available for sea turtle-friendly lighting is a Red or Amber LED.
- Keep it Shielded Materials such as aluminum flashing can be used as a shield to direct light and keep it off the beach. When shielding lights, it is important to make sure they are shielded from all areas on the beach (including from either side and on top), and not just from the beach directly in front of the light. Black oven paint may be used as a temporary solution. Light sockets with an exposed light source (such as plain bulbs) should be replaced with fixtures that are specially made to recess and/or the light source should be shielded.
- Turn Off Unnecessary Lights: Don’t use decorative lighting such as runner lights or up-lighting on vegetation in areas that are visible from the beach. Permanently remove, disable, or turn off fixtures that cannot be modified.
- Choose Turtle-Friendly Fixtures: Replace incandescent, fluorescent, and high-intensity lighting with the lowest wattage/ lumens necessary for the needed purpose.
- Reposition Lights: For lights that can be repositioned, face them away from the beach so that the light source is no longer visible.
- Install Directional Lighting: Replace fixtures that scatter light in all directions (such as globe lights or carriage lights) with directional fixtures that point down and away from the beach.
- Create Natural Barriers: Plant or improve vegetation buffers such as sea grapes and other native beach vegetation between the light source and the beach to prevent light from shining toward the beach.
- Use Motion Detector Lights: Use shielded motion detector lights for lighting and set them on the shortest time setting.
- Manage Indoor Lighting: To reduce spillover from indoor lighting, move light fixtures away from windows, apply window tint to your windows with a 45% inside to outside transmittance standards for tinted glass, or use window treatments like blinds or curtains, to shield interior lights from the beach.

What else can you do?

Never approach turtles emerging from the sea or disturb or harass nesting turtles. No matter how quiet, humans will often (and unknowingly) frighten nesting sea turtles back into the sea.

Touching nesting females, taking flash pictures of nesting females or hatchlings, or digging into nests is prohibited by law. If you observe someone harassing a nesting or hatchling sea turtle, contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) Law Enforcement at (888) 404-FWCC (3922) or *FWC on cellular phones.

Use caution while boating to avoid collision with turtles.
Stay clear of marked sea turtle nests on the beach. All nests are marked by stakes, caution tape, and labeled with an FWC approved sign. This includes “camping” near a nest waiting for hatchling to emerge.
Spread the word! Tell your friends and neighbors that sea turtle season is here and their survival depends on everyone in the community.

Resources

Turtle Fest

2023 Recap Video

Quick links