Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2000

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Salmon, Michael

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if filtered street lighting affected the nesting behavior of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta L.). My study site was a nesting beach at Carlin Park, Jupiter, Florida. During the 1999 nesting season, portions of the beach were either kept dark or were illuminated by four 70 W high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights, each housed in a cut-off fixture covered by an acrylic (model #2422) filter. These filters excluded all light wavelengths below 540 nm. The excluded wavelengths repel nesting females. Daily counts of nesting and non-nesting crawls were made. Data from the 1999 nesting season were compared to historical records of nesting at the site between 1990 and 1998. I found no evidence that filtered lights affected nesting densities, or the ratio of successful to unsuccessful crawls. These results suggest that at Carlin Park, the nesting behavior of loggerhead females is unaffected by exposure of the beach to filtered street lighting.

Extent

43 p.

Comments

Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Identifier

FADT12720

Format

pdf

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