Lighting the Way for the Turtles on Folly Beach

As part of our work with Dominion Energy, Sumter Utilities crews have been working along Folly Beach outside of Charleston, SC to replace street lights in an effort to save the turtles.

When sea turtle hatchlings begin looking for the ocean, they look for the bright white light of the moon, which up until now could be easily mistaken for a bright white street light near the beach. By replacing the street lights near their breeding grounds with nearly 40 amber-hued lights, city leaders are aiming to do their part in protecting the sea life.

The new lights will have a distinctly different glow, reducing the disruption to the turtles, and helping more of them find their forever home in the ocean once they hatch.

These efforts from Sumter Utilities crews got a bit of attention in the news! Andrew Siau’s crew, including Wyatt Cline and Robert Williams had a moment to shine in various news outlets, and were praised for keeping a clean uniform and truck throughout the filming process.

Click below to see the news features and learn more about the Folly Beach Turtle project with Dominion Energy.