The island nation of St Kitts and Nevis is installing turtle-friendly streetlights along some of its roads in an attempt to keep young turtles from emulating the chicken that crossed the road, and help them head back to the sea.
Several species of endangered turtles nest and hatch there, including leatherbacks, which apparently prefer the Atlantic side of the island to the Caribbean. But they wander away from their preferred beaches and have a high mortality rate when they cross roads at night. The new amber-toned LED lights are expected to help them turn around and head back to the beach.
The new lights are part of a multi-million program that will replace over 10,000 existing lamps with environementally-friendlier LEDs over the year.
Image: Young leatherbacks on the march
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