Scubaism

For more than 70 million years, sea turtle hatchlings have been instinctively scrambling toward the safety of the surf, drawn by the evening sky that illuminates the ocean.

But the controversy becomes illuminated at nighttime too because lights near the beach are killers. They draw hatchlings in the wrong direction. Sometimes there are bright lights on condos and businesses on the shore directly behind sea turtle nests.

The daylight reveals the results of a recent hatching in Deerfield Beach gone awry — dead sea turtle hatchlings littering parking lots and roads like A1A.

“Hundreds of turtle, baby turtle belly drag marks, little flipper prints all coming up through this area,” said Richard Whitecloud, a Deerfield Beach resident who saw hatchlings on a pathway, scurrying away from the ocean toward the lights and toward certain death.

“It was disgraceful,” said Whitecloud. “Because sea turtles should be an actually national treasure.”

Law requires that no one have lights that shine too brightly onto the beach during hatching season March through August. But NBC 6 has learned the city of Deerfield Beach itself is, according to monthly county surveys, the biggest single violator of its own ordinances. Specifically, citing lights in parking lots and walkways, even though some are partially shielded.