Lighting concerns for sea turtles prompt town investigation

At the Longboat Key Town Commission’s May 20 workshop, resident Cyndi Seamon began a discussion with commissioners about lighting issues she’s witnessed while on the beach at night. The issues relate to the town’s ordinances that protect nesting sea turtles on the beach. 

Seamon also serves as the vice president for Longboat Key Turtle Watch, though she said at the workshop that she was not necessarily representing LBKTW. She said she was there as a concerned citizen who has observed lighting issues on Longboat Key for many years. 

“I need to bring this to your attention to see if we can get a solution sooner versus later,” Seamon said.

Town ordinances relating to lighting visible from the beach help to minimize disorientations for sea turtles, which are typically more of an issue for hatchlings but also affect nesting mothers. 

Disorientations occur when artificial light disrupts adults from finding a place to nest or confuses hatchlings who otherwise would follow the moonlight to find the Gulf. 

There were two main issues that Seamon brought up to commissioners: the St. Regis construction and the new Gulf of Mexico Drive street lights. 

Seamon showed pictures of the St. Regis construction site, which appeared to have lights on in the majority of the complex, which could be seen from the beach. 

According to Town Manager Howard Tipton, the St. Regis construction crews have met with the town’s code enforcement department and said the lighting system is enabled through a wireless system. That system is still in the process of being installed, Tipton said. 

Tipton went on to say that the site superintendent was committed to getting the issue solved. But the developer failed to meet the deadline to resolve the issue and, according to Tipton, will be fined $500 a day until it is fixed. 

Director of Planning, Zoning and Building Allen Parsons said that the town’s ordinance calls for 45% opacity on windows in which lights are visible from the beach. The ordinance also states that 45% opacity may not block all light seen from the beach and, if that’s the case, then additional measures would be required. 

Parsons stated at the workshop that he believes the St. Regis’ windows are at 42% opacity. With opacity, the lower the percent, the more light that’s blocked. 

The St. Regis may be an example of where additional measures would be needed since light is still visible despite the 42% opacity. 

“This is what fully bright lights behind approximately 45% window opacity can look like. It’s still pretty bright,” Parsons said.

Mayor Ken Schneier suggested that the town keep the pressure on the St. Regis crew and continue conversations aside from just fining the team.

“We’ve spent so much time trying to protect the turtles here and do the right thing, and we are very aware of the disorientations we’ve experienced that are higher here than other islands and places, so this shouldn’t be,” Schneier said.

The other issue that Seamon brought up was with the new street lights on Gulf of Mexico Drive that were installed as a part of the utilities undergrounding project. 

Seamon said that during nighttime beach walks those lights are obvious from the beach, along with other lights like the new crosswalk lights near Bayfront Park.

Courtesy image

Seamon said that during nighttime beach walks those lights are obvious from the beach, along with other lights like the new crosswalk lights near Bayfront Park.

“I wasn’t even standing that far down the beach, and it’s beaming down the beach,” Seamon said about the light at Bayfront Park. 

Parsons said his department was aware of the issue with the new lights. He said the Planning, Zoning and Building Department was working through various ownerships of the different lights to see what the best solution would be. 

“We are working on getting these lights shielded and/or off,” Parsons said at the workshop. 

According to the latest update from Parsons, he said the town is working on getting the lights shielded for now and will evaluate the effectiveness of the shields. Then, if additional measures are needed, the town would follow up on that. 

Those additional measures could include figuring out how to time the lights to turn off if they are still too bright with the shielding. 

Sea turtle nesting season officially began on May 1, but the first nest was found on Longboat Key’s Manatee County side on May 3 by LBKTW volunteers. 

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, sea turtles have an incubation period of about two months. That means the first nests on Longboat Key most likely won’t hatch until July, when disorientations become more of an issue.