But lights on or near the beach can confuse the turtles and cause them to head in the wrong direction. Scientists have seen hatchlings cross parking lots, streets, and yards-transfixed by shining streetlights or porch lights. Disoriented hatchlings usually die from exhaustion, dehydration, or predation. Many others are squashed by cars. Insects cannot seem to resist this fatal attraction either.
Most people know that moths find lights irresistible.
But what they may not realize is that the energy moths expend in this way can cost females the chance to attract a mate. What's more, it can interfere with locating prime spots to lay their eggs, thus giving larvae inadequate conditions to develop, according to Michael Collins, a lepidopterist at the Carnegie Museum. Some entomologists speculate that the proliferation of outdoor lights has contributed to the decline of numerous saturniid moth species in the northeastern United States. Visual orientation is just one sense disrupted by artificial light, though it probably isn't the only one, says Mere-dith West, an Indiana University professor specializing in avian development. Lighting is a powerful stimulus on behavior.