Rob & Jame: Week 14

Rob's update:

This week, much energy was focused on nearly completing the embroidered sky!  The left side of the embroidery is the city before turtle-friendly lighting, and the right half of the scene depicts the change after cities make the switch to turtle-friendly lighting.  Not only are there more orange and red wavelengths in the right side of the embroidery, there is also less light pollution since the light fixtures are designed to provide downward directed light, rather than diffuse, lighting.

Over the next few weeks, I will focus on adding detail to the buildings and more embroidery thread to light fixtures along the beach.

Additionally, last week, I was lucky enough to participate in the release of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) that hatched in a sea turtle sanctuary in Sayulita, Mexico. The beaches along Sayulita’s coast are the annual host of nesting Ridley’s.  It was thrilling to watch the newly hatched turtles begin their journey--we were informed that some of these Ridleys travel all the way to Japan before heading back to nest at Sayulita over the course of their lifetime. ​

After releasing the sea turtles, I chatted with the program’s director and asked about lighting within the town of Sayulita, and whether there has been a move toward turtle-friendly lighting.  The director noted that since all of the turtles that nest on this beach hatch within the sanctuary, they are able to control the release of the turtles to the ocean.  Therefore, they are able to time the releases so that they occur right at sunset, while the horizon is still brightly lit,  but before the town turns on municipal lighting.