A couple of weeks ago I did a post about the new turtle-friendly lighting installed at Portofino. Being involved with the sea turtle program, I have been very excited about the changes.
Someone later commented that these particular lights are not recognized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as being turtle-friendly. It has taken me a while to research the issue, even though I was 99% sure they had indeed been approved as turtle-friendly since the grant was approved. Below is the response I received from Andrew Diller, Florida Sea Grant Marine Extension Agent for the Escambia County Extension Service:
The bulbs at Portofino are made by Interletric and yes, they are turtle friendly and have been approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They are NOT bulbs with sleeves on them, they are true amber fluorescent bulbs that emit the long wavelength required.
The FWC website hasn’t been updated yet with the amber version, but you can find the approval for Interlectric’s red tubes here:
http://myfwc.com/CONSERVATION/Conservation_LivingWith_WildlifeLighting_fixturesBulbs.htm
Just remind posters that companies are continuously submitting bulbs for approval and this is one of the newest bulbs approved.
We could still have people complain about being able to see some of the bulbs directly, in other words they are not in fixtures that are shielded. The response to that is we will continue to investigate possibilities for shielding some of the fixtures that are directly visible from the beach. Also, with Portofino being on the north side of the road, the distance to the beach and (hopefully growing) dunes effectively shield and further reduce direct visibility of the bulbs.
The FWC website hasn’t been updated yet with the amber version, but you can find the approval for Interlectric’s red tubes here:
http://myfwc.com/CONSERVATION/Conservation_LivingWith_WildlifeLighting_fixturesBulbs.htm
Just remind posters that companies are continuously submitting bulbs for approval and this is one of the newest bulbs approved.
We could still have people complain about being able to see some of the bulbs directly, in other words they are not in fixtures that are shielded. The response to that is we will continue to investigate possibilities for shielding some of the fixtures that are directly visible from the beach. Also, with Portofino being on the north side of the road, the distance to the beach and (hopefully growing) dunes effectively shield and further reduce direct visibility of the bulbs.
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Thank you for your responses and questions directed to my blog posts. I will always do my best to follow up. It confirms to me that people are interested in the conservation of our sea turtles and other island wildlife.
Speaking of which - if someone could just help me relocate the critter who's made a den in my yard! Any armadillo/possum trappers out there? I love sea turtles, but I draw the line at armadillos. Researching the problem, I especially got a kick from the site that stated, "the only way to get rid of an armadillo is to remove it."
Right.
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3 comments:
Kudos to Portofino!
This is very interesting! Would you happen to have any articles about long wavelength light not having as much of an impact on the turtles? Thanks!
Hi, Jeevita! Here is a link to a short article. The problem with some of the studies is just how technical they are. For me it's like trying to read Latin - but at least with Latin I recognize some of the root words! ;-)
Here is one link you might find interesting: http://www.nofs.navy.mil/about_NOFS/staff/cbl/LPSnet/Dickerson.html
Let me know if you would like to see more and I'll search them out for you. Thanks for your comment!
DJ
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