Lights disorient newborn turtles in Fla.

LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla., July 2 (UPI) -- An official in Broward County, Fla., says up to 100 newborn loggerhead turtles became disoriented by city lights in the town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

Lou Fisher of the Broward County Natural Resource Planning and Management Division said rather than head to the ocean following their birth Tuesday, the newborn animals appeared confused by the lights and wandered a local beach, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Fisher said such incidents tend to occur when newborn turtles mistake city lights for the moonlit ocean.

At least 30 of the loggerhead turtles, which the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission designates as a threatened species, did not survive.

Fisher told the Sun-Sentinel seven of the turtles had to be rescued from a local storm drain by firefighters. Nearly two-thirds of the newly-hatched turtles ultimately made it into the ocean.