Light 'Pollution' Confuses Wildlife

Baby sea turtles can become confused by artificial light, crawling away from the ocean instead of toward it.

Artificial light shining from the world’s cities is leading wildlife in the wrong directions, often to their deaths, according to a new study.

Writing in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, lead author and biophysics researcher Gabor Horvath explained that many animals are also thrown off course by light reflecting from manmade sources.

The dark smooth glass of tall buildings and other structures horizontally polarizes the light that reflects off them, indicating to wildlife that they are bodies of water.

Horvath and colleagues warn that in the case of dragonflies and other insects, which often lay their eggs and spend their first phase of life in ponds, streams and lakes, mistaking human-made objects for water can prove deadly.

Baby sea turtles use the direction of star- and moonlight reflections off water surfaces to help them find the ocean when they emerge from their beach nests.

In urbanized areas, many turtles turn the wrong way and migrate toward the brighter lights of buildings or street lamps.