| Titre : | Lighting the way: Towards reducing misorientation of olive ridley hatchlings due to artificial lighting at Rushikulya, India |
| Auteurs : | Divya Karnad, Auteur ; Kavita Isvaran, Auteur ; Chandrasekhar S. Kar, Auteur ; Kartik Shanker, Auteur |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Biological Conservation (142(10) OCT 2009) |
| Article en page(s) : | 2083-2088 |
| Langues: | Anglais |
| Résumé : | Sea-finding behavior in sea turtle hatchlings is modified by the visual cues provided by artificial beach front lighting. The consequent landward movement of hatchlings in response to coastal electric lighting reduces their survival rates. We assessed the potential impact of coastal lighting at Rushikulya, an important mass nesting site of the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the Indian Ocean region. We examined the response of hatchlings to light characteristics in an experimental setup, as well as to the existing lighting regimes along the beach, using arena trials. Previous studies on other species indicate preferential orientation towards low wavelength and high intensity light. Our study confirms these preferences among hatchlings from the Indian Ocean population of olive ridleys. In addition we also found that wavelength and intensity could have an interactive effect upon hatchling orientation. Hatchlings at the study site respond both to visible point sources of light and to sheer glows of light. Though beach plantations of introduced Casuarina equisetifolia are generally considered to have negative impacts on sea turtle nesting beaches, we found that they acted as an effective light barrier when planted about |



