Short paper #1

Sea turtles are needed to help maintain a healthy marine ecosystem. As the sea turtles are eating in the seagrass beds, this keeps them from overgrowing and obstructing currents (Allison, Magliocca, Miller, Wilson, p. 6). Loggerheads tend to feed off of hard-shelled prey. As they are breaking up the shells, this increases the rate at which they disintegrate and therefore releasing the nutrients back into the ecosystem faster. They also search the ocean floor and this affects the compaction, aeration and nutrient distribution of the sediments as they are foraging (Allison, Magliocca, Miller, Wilson, p. 11).

The authors of this article concluded that the number of years to the sea turtles’ extinction could be extended by 22 years with the help of current legislation aids. While this potentially extends the sea turtles life span, it could be more impactful through stricter enforcement of turtle friendly lighting on or nearby beaches. Yet they weren’t able to account for the cost difference were between regular lighting and sea-turtle friendly lighting because of a lack of data though they feel it would likely be more energy efficient (Brei, Pérez‐Barahona, Strobl, 2020).

I found their perspective fascinating as I also have some interest in preventing the extinction of these beautiful and important animals. The sea is an important part of our lives as humans and sea turtles play an important role in the ecosystem. If they were to disappear, the effects would be rippling. Currently, there isn’t a way to counteract the negative effects their loss would create. The article measures the use of sea turtle lighting friendly (STFL) in conjunction with government legislatures like the enacted but rarely enforced DEP Marine Turtle Protection in 1993 (Brei, Pérez‐Barahona, Strobl, p. 301. The measurement involved the method Barshel et al. (2014) introduced to measure the strength of local ordinances regarding the regulation of beach light pollution. It is based on an approach called Content Analysis, which aims at systematically quantifying the information included in texts such as media messages or legal documents e.g., Krippendorff 2013. (Brei, Pérez‐Barahona, Strobl, 2020, p. 304). I believe that everyone should do their part to ensure the safety of these animals and especially to those animals that are nearly extinct.

My research would combine data from tagged sea turtles and the study of their movements along the beaches they are nest at in combination with their reproductive behaviors and growth in areas with STFL compared to enforced limited regular lighting. This study would help us compare the cost efficiency of installing more lighting to that of simply reducing lighting. Additionally, how having reduced lighting effects human occupants of the beach areas. Understanding how those impacted by such changes would better explore determine if stricter enforcement of legislation is worthwhile or more careful planning of beach environments could offer a better balance.

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