Bright nighttime lights are putting Atlantic puffins at risk, reported Mongabay.
What's happening?
Atlantic puffin chicks, adorably called pufflings, venture out of their burrows after three months. Most pufflings find their way to the ocean, but some mysteriously wind up stranded on land, where they can be run over by cars or fall prey to predators.
For years, scientists have tried to pinpoint the cause of these puffin strandings. Researchers in Canada may have found the answer.
Their study found that artificial lights are luring the puffins into towns.
Among other behavioral experiments, researchers shined bright LED lights on beaches near puffin colonies on alternating nights. They found many more pufflings stranded on nights when the beaches were illuminated than when they were dark.
Why is the impact of artificial light on puffins so important?
Puffin strandings concern conservationists because the Atlantic puffin population is declining and listed as endangered on the European Red List of Birds.
Puffins are just one species impacted by artificial light at night.
Bright artificial lights negatively impact the nighttime behavior of humans, plants, and animals. They can disrupt the circadian rhythm of bees, disorient sea turtle hatchlings, and interfere with mating fireflies. Even corals and trees are affected by these bright lights.
All these species are vital to our planet's biodiversity. The decline of insects, including nighttime pollinators, threatens our food supply.
|
Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Yes — always 💯 What can be done to help?
Since the early 2000s, volunteers called the Puffin Patrol have helped safely net stranded pufflings near the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve in Newfoundland and Labrador and return them to the sea. Now that researchers know the cause of the strandings, reducing artificial lights along the coast and offshore could help volunteers save puffin lives.
"The most affected and the most important areas to avoid increasing light pollution would be areas immediately adjacent to the colonies, where the birds are fledging and where they're most likely to end up by chance," said Taylor Brown, the study's lead author, per Mongabay.
Organizations such as DarkSky International are working to educate people about light pollution. Several states have put policies in place to reduce excessive use of light.
At home, something as simple as installing yellow LED lights can have a big impact because they are less attractive to nocturnal insects. Installing motion-activated lighting can lower electricity bills and significantly reduce unnecessary light exposure for wildlife.
"A global awareness of the problem of artificial light … is urgent," Ian Jones, a seabird biologist, told Mongabay. "It's time for drastic action to reduce light offshore and on our shorelines."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
