Light Pollution (Coastal)

Coastal light pollution is artificial light at night from shoreline development, ports, and vessels that disrupts the behavior of light-sensitive marine and coastal species. Its best-documented effect is on sea turtles: artificial lighting disorients hatchlings, which use the brighter seaward horizon to find the ocean, drawing them inland toward roads and predators, and it deters nesting females from beaches. It also disrupts seabird navigation, zooplankton vertical migration, and fish and invertebrate rhythms tied to natural light cycles. Mitigation uses long-wavelength amber LEDs, shielding, lower mounting, and lights-out periods during nesting season. Florida and many jurisdictions enforce beachfront lighting ordinances under sea-turtle protection rules.