Yen Chih-Hao, Chan Yin-Ting, Peng Yao-Chi, Chang Kuo-Hui, Cheng I-Jiunn
Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan. E-mail:
Institute of Marine Biology, Ieotek Corporation, Neihu 114, Taiwan. E-mail:
Zool Stud. 2023 Sep 22;62:e47. doi: 10.6620/ZS.2023.62-47. eCollection 2023.
octurnal animals use their vision and acute hearing to adapt to the nighttime environment. Light pollution has become a serious problem for nocturnal animals in coastal areas, especially nesting sea turtles and sea turtle hatchlings. Hatchlings use visual clues to find the ocean. However, when the artificial light is stronger than the natural light, hatchlings become either misoriented, disoriented or both. Due to rapid tourism development on Lanyu Island, new sources of light pollution, especially streetlights, pose a serious threat to sea turtle hatchlings. In this study, we used a portable lamp constructed by Liteon Inc. on a circular area of a turtle nesting beach to see how artificial light sources could affect green turtle hatchlings' sea finding behavior. In the experiments, we tested hatchling behavior under different lamp settings (strong or weak light intensity; white or yellow light; lamp shield presence or absence) and moon visibilities (moonlit or moonless). The hatchlings' crawling tracks and locations at the end of the trials were recorded. Results showed that the light intensity had no effect on hatchling sea finding behavior. White light had a stronger impact on hatchling sea finding behavior than yellow light. When the lamp shield was installed on moonlit nights, more hatchings were able to find the sea under both white and yellow lights. Thus, it is recommended that light shields be installed on the streetlights of Lanyu Island in order to protect the sea turtle hatchlings effectively.
夜行性动物利用它们的视觉和敏锐的听觉来适应夜间环境。光污染已成为沿海地区夜行性动物面临的一个严重问题，尤其是对于正在筑巢的海龟和刚孵化出的小海龟。刚孵化出的小海龟利用视觉线索来找到大海。然而，当人造光比自然光更强时，刚孵化出的小海龟就会迷失方向，或者完全失去方向感，或者两者兼而有之。由于兰屿岛旅游业的快速发展，新的光污染源，尤其是路灯，对刚孵化出的小海龟构成了严重威胁。在这项研究中，我们使用了由Liteon公司制造的便携式灯，在海龟筑巢海滩的一个圆形区域进行测试，以了解人造光源如何影响绿海龟幼龟寻找大海的行为。在实验中，我们测试了幼龟在不同灯光设置（强光或弱光强度；白光或黄光；有无灯罩）和不同月相能见度（有月光或无月光）下的行为。记录了幼龟在试验结束时的爬行轨迹和位置。结果表明，光强度对幼龟寻找大海的行为没有影响。白光对幼龟寻找大海行为的影响比黄光更强。在有月光的夜晚安装灯罩时，在白光和黄光下都有更多的幼龟能够找到大海。因此，建议在兰屿岛的路灯上安装灯罩，以便有效地保护刚孵化出的小海龟。
