With funding from the Julia R. Brown Education and Research Fund, Keenan attended the 44th International Sea Turtle Conference to gather scientific insights and inspiration for his capstone documentary on the San Gabriel River turtles in Long Beach. The event’s sessions on turtle health, lighting‑pollution mitigation, and the NOAA research presented by his advisor’s colleague deepened his understanding of key conservation issues and sparked a new collaboration on a short‑film series with the Association of Reef Keeper BVI. These connections and the knowledge gained will directly shape the content and outreach strategy of his upcoming sea‑turtle film.
Attending the 44th International Sea Turtle Conference was an amazing experience. I attended presentations about sea turtle health, lighting conservation, their relationship with remoras, and attend my capstone advisor’s presentation about the sea turtles in Long Beach. Additionally, I made professional connections for future projects relating to sea turtle conservation.
Not only was this a unique and timely opportunity, this conference directly related to my capstone project. I am making a short film about the sea turtles in the San Gabriel river in Long Beach. Cali Turner is a sea turtle research biologist with NOAA Southwest Fisheries and a member of my capstone committee. She presented her data and experiences from researching this particular sea turtle population and included my image of a sea turtle in the river swimming around a shopping cart in her presentation.
The full-day seminar I attended focused on the importance of light pollution and its effects on sea turtle conservation. The largest impact affects newly hatched turtles. They have evolved to move toward the brightest light they find which, in evolutionary history, is the night sky reflecting off the ocean. In the present day, however, the brightest lights near many nesting beaches are from homes, resorts, and other beach front infrastructure causing the hatchlings to move inland instead of straight to the water. Lighting research indicates long wavelength lighting is less disturbing to sea turtle orientation. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Department developed three rules to lighting:
- mount lights as low as possible to the ground
- shield the light’s lens from visibility
- use long wavelength colors such as amber colored LEDs.
Information about these guidelines can be found from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission here.
I found this seminar unexpectedly fascinating and it led to a professional connection! The managing director of the Association of Reef Keeper BVI is interested in collaborating on a lighting conservation short video series.
I was able to find some Hawaiian turtles, too! It was great being at the symposium and then seeing the star animal in the wild.
My current project can always benefit (and is hugely appreciated!) from promotions. I will be making regular posts to my new instagram account, @konservationfilms, promoting my current capstone project and the future lighting project. Next, I will attend the West Coast Sea Turtle Symposium in Monterey, CA, November 2-4.
Blog content and images provided by Keenan Murray – thank you!