Why become a turtle friendly business?
Between October and April, our coastline becomes home to the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland.
Turtles play a big part in our beautiful region and it is up to us to keep them safe.
Whether you are a small hospitality business in Bargara or a large organisation in Bundaberg there are many ways to make your business turtle friendly.
Top turtle friendly tips
Changes that will help make your business turtle friendly
1. Turn off unnecessary indoor lighting at night.
Most nesting and hatchling activity occurs at night and artificial light can cause turtles to become disorientated. So, it is important to reduce any sources of artificial light where possible. If you cannot turn off indoor lights, you can help by closing curtains or blinds!
2. Use LEDs and compact fluorescents with lower temperatures and warmer colours.
Turtles are particularly sensitive to light in the blue spectrum. Using lights with lower colour temperatures (2700–3000 K) will help reduce the amount of light in the blue spectrum. These lights are usually warmer colours (yellow/amber). You can find more information about types of lighting in our Reducing Urban Glow Turtle Friendly Lighting Guide here.
3. Use dimmers, motion sensors, or timers on outdoor lighting
Hatchlings find their way to the ocean by moving toward the lightest horizon, which in a natural environment would be over the ocean. However light pollution can affect their ability to see the natural horizon leaving them disoriented and moving away from their path! Minimizing outdoor lighting is important in keeping the natural horizon bright.
4. Recycle right and keep rubbish out of our waterways.
Keeping rubbish out of the waterways that flow to the ocean is extremely important! According to Queensland’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Plan, Turtles have a 20% chance of dying if they ingest just one piece of plastic. You can learn how to correctly dispose of waste here.
5. Reduce single use plastic where possible
The Australian Marine Conservation Society have an abundance of free resources for businesses looking to reduce plastic use. You can find them here: http://www.marineconservation.org.au/ocean-plastic-pollution/ Did you know you can hire the #lessismore water bottle refill station for events? More information on how to hire the free refill station can be found here.
Reducing Urban Glow project
What is Reducing Urban Glow?
The Reducing Urban Glow in Bundaberg project is a collaboration between Bundaberg Regional Council, project partners and technical experts.
The project uses smart technology to measure urban lighting levels and makes that data available to the community to reduce the negative impact of lighting on both nesting and hatchling marine turtles.
This project aims to empower the community to make informed decisions about their use of light and take positive action to reduce urban glow.
Why is it important?
All of the world’s sea turtle populations are considered rare or threatened. Six live in Australia, and three nest along the Bundaberg Region’s coast at Mon Repos, Burnett Heads, Moore Park Beach, and Bargara. The Bundaberg coastline hosts the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the east coast of Australia and is home to 50 per cent of endangered Loggerhead turtle breeding activity in the South Pacific Ocean.
Scientific evidence indicates that artificial light sources have a negative impact on adult turtle nesting site selection and hatchling ocean-finding behaviour by preventing turtles from navigating to and from the ocean.
Learn more about the project