Sea Turtle Alert

Marco Island beaches are monitored each night by Marco Island Code enforcement to ensure that everyone is following the sea turtle lighting compliance ordinance. The purpose of the light compliance is to protect sea turtle nests and hatchlings.  

We are into the third month of sea turtle season, which started May 1st and runs through October 31st.The sea turtle lays up to 100+ eggs, which incubate in the warm sand for 60 days. For this year, sea turtle monitors have recorded 115 nests, 310 false crawls,13 hatched nests, and three disorientations.  

Hatchlings rely on the natural glow of light from the ocean to draw them down to the water. Unfortunately, bright lights from condo buildings and even streetlights from Collier Boulevard can disorient the hatchlings away from the water towards the bright artificial light. Artificial lighting, according to experts, is a severe threat to turtles – both female loggerheads coming to nest and to hatchlings. 

When sea turtle monitors arrive on the beach, their morning inspection often shows the hatchlings’ tiny prints heading to the dunes or building structures. In the past, hatchlings have been found on condo parking lots or drowned in pool water, resulting in “irreparable harm” to the hatchlings. This is the tragic result of hatchling disorientation from bright artificial light.