In the Outer Banks, Jennette’s Pier is installing shielded amber lighting to reduce light pollution and protect coastal wildlife. The movement for North Carolina ocean-front homes and businesses to transition to wildlife friendly lighting is gaining momentum.
Bright lights from coastal development disrupt sea turtle nesting behaviors and lead to higher mortality rates along North Carolina’s coast. Research shows that using amber lighting can significantly improve sea turtle survival rates.
The Sea Turtle Conservancy’s Development and Policy Coordinator, Stacey Gallagher said the shift to wildlife friendly lighting starts with the community’s mindset.
“The community, the visitors, the owners, local businesses, hotels, government, everyone has to have this sense of conservation, and this community needs to protect their natural resources. All of that has to work together in order for lighting policy to be effective.”
Jennette’s Pier, in Nags Head, is leading the charge in adopting wildlife-friendly lighting in eastern North Carolina.
This summer, the pier began installing exterior fixtures that emit shielded amber light. Gallagher said the Sea Turtle Conservancy in Florida is eager to see the progress North Carolina is making.
“It is so heartening to see this community making the change and we are excited to see the positive results that come from it.”
The director of Jennette’s Pier, Mike Remige, said they want to set a strong example for how coastal facilities can effectively balance human and wildlife needs.
“You know, it's important for us here because we're such a high profile attraction in the Outer Banks, and our old lighting was starting to fail. And we knew we had a good opportunity to actually sort of change it all out at once.”
This was the first of two phases Jennette’s Pier is undergoing to transition into a fully wildlife friendly pier. Remige said over 200 lighting fixtures on the facility’s exterior have been changed and they only have a few left before they move to phase two of the project.
“What we really want to do is demonstrate that in the ocean front environment, we had a responsibility for all of the the animals, the wildlife that still live in this realm, right? They've been here for for millions of years. We as humans have developed this ocean front over the past couple of hundred years.”
North Carolina Aquarist and Sea Turtle Specialist at Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium, Michelle Lamping, helped bring the lighting transition to fruition at Jennette’s Pier.
“We're not just stopping at piers, we're working on everything from houses and condos, businesses, town pathways, street lights. We're trying to retrofit all of them. But this was just a big step for us to get a pier done that was owned by the state.”
Now, Lamping is working in Atlantic Beach to retrofit amber lighting along the coast. She said after being a part of this movement for decades, she is excited to see people start to understand why on-shore lighting is so dangerous to wildlife.
“Now we're getting some momentum where people are actually understanding the effects of…I came home, I flipped on the light in the back, didn't think anything about it, and I just killed 150 endangered species.”
Lamping said the issue of on-shore lighting boils down to the dynamic between humans and the environment.
“Like, it just kind of happened at the same time. We're having more turtles with more nests, at the same time we have more people building with more lights.”
The Conservation Action Committee is comprised of staff from across the North Carolina Aquarium system, including Lamping and Remige. Lamping said the committee continues to push the state forward towards a future where people and wildlife can safely enjoy their homes under amber light.