Light pollution is disrupting nature’s compass

In the remote north of Western Australia, a sea of tiny creatures make their way across the white sands of the beach to the ocean – guided by the night sky.

Every year, turtle hatchlings make the precarious dash from their nest to the water, marking the start of their life.

This phenomenon requires natural light from the night sky, but as cities and developments grow, artificial light is starting to have an impact.

“For hatchlings, it’s the biggest impact in the context of misorientation and disorientation on a nesting beach,” says Tristan Simpson, Senior Environmental Officer at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) North West Shelf Flatback Turtle Conservation Program.

“The hatchling turtle can be attracted towards the light or get lost by the light and just go off in random directions,” he says. 

“What that can do is they can either get lost behind the beach [or] not make the water, which then leaves them prone to increased levels of mortality.”

To protect the threatened species of flatback turtles, researchers are looking at how to mitigate light pollution.

IT’S TOO BRIGHT!

Light pollution is the excessive or inappropriate use of artificial light at night-time.

It can be caused by a variety of sources, including streetlights and lights from houses, factories and sporting venues.

This artificial light can have a severe impact on nature’s most important processes such as turtle nesting.

“Recently, we conducted a threat prioritisation process through our program to score different threats and different life cycle stages of turtles,” says Tristan.

“Artificial light still comes out as one of the highest-priority threats for us to address.”

But it’s not just baby turtles that are affected by light pollution. 

OUTSHINING THE STARS

More than 80% of the world is impacted by light pollution.

Astrotourism WA CEO Carol Redford believes this has driven a global push towards dark sky tourism.

“I can only think that this is because most of us live in brightly lit cities and we just don’t get that opportunity to look up and really see the stars,” says Carol.

“There are some children now who will grow up not seeing stars, which is a big piece of the environment to take away from ourselves.”

“I think that’s why it’s risen in popularity, because it’s becoming rarer and scarce around the world.”

Research from Tourism WA found nearly 90% of visitors to WA showed an interest in stargazing while travelling.

The opportunities for dark sky tourism are endless, from witnessing turtle hatchlings migrating to the ocean to dining under the stars or simply gazing at the night sky.

Carol says many regional towns are promoting the natural tourist attraction to visitors.

“Because stargazing is an after-dark activity, it encourages overnight stays,” she says.

“You’re not going to have a stargazing experience or a dark sky experience and then get in your car and travel a couple hours to go somewhere else.

“You’re going to stay overnight, which immediately means more money drops into that local economy.”

“The Midwest, the Wheatbelt, the Gascoyne, Pilbara, Kimberley, those areas are really amazing for stargazing because we have these huge horizons and weather conditions are ideal.”

“You can lie back there under the Milky Way and see it stretch from one horizon to another and that’s pretty mind-blowing.”

But as the night sky becomes brighter due to increasing light pollution, it diminishes these experiences.

Luckily, there is a solution to guard the night skies.

LIMITING THE LIGHT

Unlike other forms of pollution, light pollution is more easily reversed. For example, people can simply turn off unnecessary lights at night or shield light so it falls where it’s needed.

Improving awareness of light pollution is also playing a large role in mitigating the impact on the environment.

“There’s a massive movement globally,” says Tristan.

“Cities in Europe are going fully dark at night-time [and] there’s lots more research going into this, particularly the health impacts on people – we are animals too, after all.

“To hear the work that’s been done and the outcomes of that work … it’s quite significant.”

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE

A new exhibit at Scitech will soon shine a spotlight on light pollution, the impact it has on turtles and how the next generation can preserve dark skies for ecological and astronomical benefits.

“To think that 300,000 people every year are going to have the potential to engage with that exhibit and to learn about light pollution and how it affects sea turtle populations and also our night sky is just really groundbreaking,” says Carol.

“It is pretty amazing what we can do as Western Australians to lead the way in this education and mitigating light pollution over the years to come.

“I can see us leading the world, and this exhibit is a big part of that.”

The exhibition opened on 22 September 2025.