Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

CEP Technical Report No. 12
hatchlings emerging from nests exposed to beach front lighting have been found orienting away
from the sea and toward the artificial light source (section 3.1). While there are presently no
official regulations with regard to the lighting of beach front properties, several means to
mitigate the problems caused by badly placed lights have been employed. These include the
sending of a form letter to all hotels and restaurants along the west and south coasts early in the
hawksbill breeding season. The letter asks that unnecessary lights be turned off, and that lights
which cannot be turned off for security and safety reasons be checked each morning at dawn for
disorientated hatchlings. This letter has produced very encouraging results. Bellairs Research
Institute staff collect disoriented hatchlings for release at a suitable beach the following night.
Another approach has been to talk directly with architects and their clients about lighting
plans for new developments along the coast (see section 4.621). When alerted to the problems
caused by beach illumination, developers have proved to be quite willing to cooperate even in
the absence of legal requirements to do so. Lighting problems can be minimized by keeping
lights low to the ground, shielding them from shining directly on the beach (this is accomplished
using structural shields or attractive hedges of vegetation), and using low sodium vapor lamps
which emit light in the range of 590 nm, which is known to be far less attractive to hatchlings
than full-spectrum white lights (Raymond, 1984; Witherington, 1990). Although it would be
beneficial, it is very unlikely that any lighting restrictions will be legislated in the foreseeable
future. Thus, voluntary compliance with lighting alternatives and restrictions is seen as crucial to
the reproductive success of sea turtles in Barbados.
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4.133 Beach stabilization structures
Beach erosion is a serious problem on the west and south coasts of the island (section
3.1). Many properties built before legislation governing set-back limits were enforced have
erected beach walls, or revetments such as rock-filled wire baskets (gabions) or boulders to
minimize loss of their land to the sea. For much of the coastline, turtles are unable to climb very
far above the normal high water mark due to these coastal protection structures. The annual loss
in beach width of 0.3 m along the west coast means that there is likely to be an increasing need
for coastal protection and armouring in the near future. This will decrease the amount of suitable
nesting habitat left available to hawksbills if the structural solutions to coastal erosion outlined
above (e.g., the placement of boulders) are implemented. Some hotels have also erected groynes
in attempts to increase the width of their beaches. These groynes have altered sand movements
along extensive stretches of the coast and have sometimes resulted in the complete loss of
adjacent beaches at certain times of the year. On some beaches, sea turtle nesting may also have
been adversely affected (see also section 4.135).
The conservation of beaches in Barbados, because of their social and economic
importance as recreational areas, has recently been, and will continue to be, given high priority
by Government. The Coastal Conservation Project Unit (an agency within the Ministry of
Labour, Consumer Affairs and the Environment) has implemented remedial measures suggested
by the Coastal Conservation Study (1984), including the removal of some private, destructive
groynes and the erection of a few reconstructive groynes. It is the recommendation of this
Recovery Action Plan that the use of set-backs (prohibiting the construction of buildings seaward
of the primary dune line or zone of permanent woody vegetation) and native vegetation (to retain