Grant: 23-040E
Project Title: Turtle Friendly Lighting Education Campaign
Project Manager: Krystal Dobbins
Organization: City of Miami Beach (Florida Government)
Grant Amount: $13,550.00
Completion Date: 2025-02-07
Summary: In 2006, the City of Miami Beach passed the Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance restricting artificial light during the turtle season. While many properties have voluntarily opted to install turtle-friendly lighting in Miami Beach, disorientation from artificial light remains a concern for the city. To mitigate the effects of artificial light on sea turtles, the City of Miami Beach will conduct an education campaign to improve localized efforts, address concerns about turtle disorientations in Miami Beach, emphasize the harmful effects of artificial light on sea turtles, and provide suggestions to reduce the impact. Project will include city-wide advertisements and promotional materials such as flyers, glass decals and lighting stickers. Pre- and post-surveys of private properties will be collected and shared with city staff. Additionally, $10,000 in matching funds will be used to host a sea turtle educational event. The event will help multiply the efforts of the campaign and engaging the community with impactful messaging.
Results: Through the Sea Turtle License Plate grant, Miami Beach's Environment and Sustainability Department has effectively increased public awareness and community engagement on sea turtle protection, particularly regarding the impact of artificial lighting. Launched in May 2024, the 'Flip the Switch' campaign employed a diverse array of outreach methods to educate residents and visitors on the harmful effects of artificial light on sea turtles. The campaign's strategies included physical advertising, such as pole banners, bus shelter ads, public events and an article in MB Magazine, as well as digital and social media outreach, PSAs, and a dedicated web page. Physical advertising in high-traffic areas provided extensive visibility. Pole banners achieved an estimated 5.1 million impressions, bus shelter ads garnered approximately 6.5 million impressions, and cinema PSAs reached about 94,000 viewers. Digital outreach amplified our reach, with paid social ads producing approximately 1.5 million impressions and directing around 2,400 visitors to the sea turtle webpage. Additional paid digital promotions resulted in 390,000 impressions and drove over 4,500 webpage hits. In total, the campaign generated an estimated 13.7 million impressions, with nearly 7,000 visits to the sea turtle webpage. Digital graphics were widely shared, while physical materials like stickers and magnets were distributed at events throughout the nesting season to reinforce our message. During the grant period, the Miami Beach City Commission updated the city's 18-year-old Sea Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance to include lights visible from the beach, integrating interior lighting standards for hotels and commercial properties as well as limiting fireworks to barges that affect more than 7 miles of beachfront. The City postponed printing the sea turtle flyers until the amendment was adopted by the City Commission to make sure that the most updated information was reflected. The Ordinance was amended during the October 2024 City Commission. A new flyer will be created and distributed to be timed with the upcoming sea turtle nesting season. Moving forward, the Environment and Sustainability Department will continue to assess lighting conditions tracked by Miami-Dade County, helping us evaluate the campaign's impact on reducing artificial lighting near critical sea turtle habitats.