Winters said they’re hearing “a lot of reports” this summer of interior lighting problems, such as people in condominium complexes who leave blinds open in units close to the beach, especially in the area with the most nesting, south of New Smyrna Beach. The property owner didn’t return a phone call, but someone who answered the phone at the motel said the problem had been fixed. The property owner would also have to pay a $100 day fine after a set deadline for every day the light wasn’t turned off, shielded or changed. The board found the property owner in violation and fined the motel $500, said Bryan Jiles, Volusia County code enforcement manager. A light at the San Marina Motel could be seen from the darkened beach. One of those cases went to the county’s code board on July 16. ![]() However, Volusia County environmental management staff have already noted or received more than 140 violations of the lighting code this summer, a slight increase over last year, Winter said. A small part of Daytona Beach’s boardwalk area is exempt from the code. 31 each year, which states properties along the beach must shield or turn off lights that illuminate the beach or are visible from the beach. Property owners are required to follow Volusia County’s lighting code, in effect from May 31 to Oct. “And we’re not too far into our hatching season.” The natural glow of white-capped waves illuminated by starlight and moonlight is supposed to draw hatchlings toward the sea, but sometimes bright lights on shore can lead them astray and to their untimely deaths in parking lots or roadways.Īlready this year, Volusia County staff has received reports of at least five disorientation events, said Jennifer Winters, coastal habitat program manager for Volusia County. Beachgoers also can help by not shining flashlights on the beach at night, she said, and by closing the curtains in beachfront rental units to prevent the artificial lighting from misleading a hatchling into heading in the wrong direction. Large holes can trap female turtles or the young turtle hatchlings that emerge from the nests. But the average beachgoer is also asked to play a role in helping to protect sea turtles and their hatchlings, even during the daytime, said Amber Bridges, a field biologist for Ecological Associates, which monitors nests in Volusia between Ponce Inlet and the Seashore.Įveryone can help by filling in holes on the beach after a day of sand castle construction, Bridges said. Similar efforts occur all along the coast with park rangers and consultants who help monitor and mark the nests. So far this summer, Daley and his counterparts at the seashore have counted almost 3,100 nests along the seashore’s 24 miles of beach in Volusia and Brevard.
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