The streets of South Padre Island were lit for the first time by solar-powered street lamps Friday night as part of phase one in an expansion project to protect the Island’s sea turtle population.
Sea Turtle Inc., by way of a $30,000 donation from Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, installed eight amber streetlights on Turtle Drive, said Katie Ryan, the public relations specialist for Green Mountain.
Sea Turtle Inc. is a rehabilitation center for turtles found stranded on the Island’s beach. They are nursed back to health at the center until they can be released into the ocean or kept at local zoos as ambassadors to the sea turtle cause, said Jeff George, the executive director at the center. George said these lights, aside from lessening the carbon footprint of the Island, will help turtles find their way to sea at night because they are blind to amber and red tones.