Saving The Sea Turtles

If you asked a person what they thought about street lights, an average person would think they are very helpful tools in guiding a person safely down a street in darkness, or protecting people from danger when we cannot see clearly. What people don't think about is the negative effects of street lights or any kind of bright light close to the ocean or beaches.

Many innocent lives of helpless baby sea turtles are taken away every year just because cities put up more artificial lighting. People think they are saving lives by doing this but at the same time they are taking away many lives. I'm sure many are unaware of this problem and don't even know that they are contributing to it. I honestly didn't even know this was a problem until we watched the movie The City Dark. In the movie we met a man that explained the way turtles make it to sea. After they hatch and crawl out of their nest in the sand, the sea turtles follow the light of the moon and make their way safely to their new home in the ocean. But with so many lights so close to the shore line, it confuses the baby turtles and they don't know which way to go. They end up getting lost and dehydrated and many die. Fortunately for the turtles in the movie, the crew helped all of them get to the water safely.

But what if nobody was there while the turtles were hatching? Most of the time people aren't just sitting around a turtle nest just waiting to help them to the ocean. So most of the time, the turtles die. From some of the articles I have found online, I have learned that most types of sea turtles are already endangered and if this goes on for much longer, the sea turtles may even become extinct. Not many people are aware of this and there surely isn't going to be someone waiting at every turtle nest. Things need to improve so the turtles can make their way to the water the way nature intended. We need to let everyone know of this problem so we can come up with solutions that could save the sea turtles.