If a light switches on at an airport, will it kill a generation of endangered sea turtles? The answer is sometimes "yes."

 

On the Dutch-controlled island of Bonaire at Te Amo Beach in the Carribbean, a group of baby Loggerhead Turtles hatched. The problem? Te Amo Beach is located next to an airport, which can be fatal to new turtles because the lights from the airport dazzle and confuse hatchlings, preventing them from reaching the water. Rather than crawling toward the moon over the water, as newly hatched turtles instinctively do, these turtles have crawled toward the airport lights in the past. Two years ago, an entire nest of turtles died after crawling into traffic.

 

On July 1, Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire staff and volunteers blocked the airport lights by creating a man-made shield with their bodies -- a human wall to guide the hatchlings toward the water. They saved the lives of all 113 babies.

 

Loggerheads, though abundant, have a "low reproductive rate" with females laying "an average of four egg clutches" annually. It takes a female between 17 and 33 years to reach sexual maturity, so it can take up to 25 years before they return to their birthplace to mate.