Wildlife-Sensitive Ways to Light a Coastal Landscape

All well-lit beach garden creates a place for relaxing and listening to the ocean waves in the evening. But artificial lighting disrupts coastal animal behavior in perilous ways, and coastal areas often have outdoor lighting regulations because of the way light pollution can affect sensitive habitats for seabirds and sea turtles.

There are best practices for lighting beachside landscapes that protect animals from the ill effects of light pollution. Here are some tips for illuminating your garden in a wildlife-friendly way.

Light selectively. Motion-sensing lights are a great way to light areas only when they are in use. It also helps to simply turn lights off when they are not needed. This includes interior home lights that may shine on the beachfront.

Light pollution from the home on the shoreline can be shielded with dense vegetation layers planted along the property line.

Shield lights. Low-profile lights and lights that are sunk into walls and steps work beautifully to illuminate walking areas. Flood lights and spotlights are very damaging to animal habitats, because they spread light directly into trees and out across the coastline. Avoid lighting mounted on a rooftop that shines outward.

Spotlights in particular are a common disruption for freshly hatched sea turtles on the beach. The baby turtles mistakenly crawl toward the bright artificial lights instead of the water and end up dying. Florida, for one, has policies that make it illegal to constantly shine bright lights directly on the beach for that reason. If you must use a floodlight, ensure that it’s angled no more than 90 degrees from the ground and fully shielded from casting light upward.

Direct lights downward. All lights should point downward and be shielded so that the light does not escape upward or outward. (The goal is to have a dark sky.) Do not use lights that are directed upward into trees or onto a building facade. Instead, use small, warm lights that point downward.

Wildlife-Sensitive Ways to Light a Coastal Landscape

 

Wildlife-Sensitive Ways to Light a Coastal Landscape