BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. -- Baby loggerhead turtles in two southwest Florida communities have died after crawling toward land-based lights instead of the horizon of the Gulf.
Eve Haverfield, founder of Turtle Time, a nonprofit organization, said turtles from five nests in Bonita Springs and Collier County became disoriented because of lights illegally shone on the beach.
Haverfield said one nest near a home where two bright lights were aimed toward the beach had 112 eggs. She rescued 17 hatchlings still in the nest and three found crawling on a street.
Four were crushed and she believes 58 were eaten by birds or died from exhaustion.
All the turtle tracks led away from the water.
A Bonita Spring environmental specialist said he will send a notice of violation to the property owner.
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PO II input: To future Project Orion teams, keep this in mind so as not to shine your torchlights when you are releasing the baby turtles into the sea. =)
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