Darkness is extremely important to the Everglades habitat. Could Wannial Catraz be a threat to that?

Surrounded by the lack of swamp bug ham, Anthony Suleiman turned his camera west.

The conservation photographer was more than 15 miles away from the state’s newly built immigration detention center and was called the Wannial Catraz. However, just before 10pm on July 1st, he was able to see the glow of the site with his naked eye.

Suleiman, who was featured in images of the Everglades skiing at the National Park Visitor Center last year, is concerned that industrial lighting released from the facility could harm protected wildlife in globally recognized reserves in dark skies.

He is not alone. The major international authority certifying “Dark Sky” Parks says that the artificial light of the Wannial Catraz “directly threatens” the famous natural darkness of the reserve, disrupting endangered nighttime wildlife.

This is one of the latest environmental and human rights concerns derived from a detention center quickly built in Collier County.

In 2016, Darkski International designated Florida’s Big Cypress National Reserve as the country’s first sanctuary to achieve its “dark skies” status after a strict process with the U.S. National Park Service.

But the state detention centers built for immigrant detainees are contrary to the sanctuary’s commitment to protecting the darkness that many species rely on, the group said.

“This development represents an important step towards dark skies conservation efforts in areas where significant resources are invested in restoration of the Everglades,” the group said in a statement by the Tampa Bay Times.

“Protecting the natural night environment is an integral part of the health and resilience of the broader ecosystem.”

Photos from recent nights from photographers like Sleiman and environmental advocates, photographed over the past week, appear to portray the glow of the facility more than dozens of miles from the site. NASA’s satellite imagery also shows facilities that stand out in the dark wilderness of all aspects.

Whether Big Sypress can maintain its designation as a “Dark Sky” reserve as a “dark sky” reserve depends on an annual review of light contamination data, according to Ruskin Hartley, executive director of Darksky International.

Big Cypress is respected by astronomers, photographers and parkers as a nighttime sanctuary due to the light pollution that emanates from Miami to the east and west into Naples. Park Services boasts the view with phrases like “After half of the park is dark!”

Alligator Alcatraz detainees who told reporters he was enduring inhumane circumstances on the scene told reporters he was enduring the inhumane situation, told reporters that the lights were always on at the facility. Critics of the detention facility argue that not only is it cruel to house detainees in the heat of the wetlands, but the state and federal governments have also sidelined environmental laws protecting the park.

In court on Thursday, an environmental group suing local, state and federal officials to halt activities in detention centers, alleged the night sky above Big Cypress, highlighting what they call a violation of environmental laws.

Two advocacy groups, Everglades’ Friends and the Center for Biodiversity, say artificial lighting is tainting the night sky, damaging the enjoyment of its citizens, and disrupting the habitat of species that thrive at night.

For one, Florida bonnet bats, a very rare species that live in the habitat around the detention center, rely on night covers to hunt and can be blocked with artificial light. The Florida Panthers are also active at night, with Florida Wildlife Agency thinking that light pollution is a form of habitat loss.

Officials have not answered questions from the era about state lighting at the facility.

The June 26 video shows the industrial flatbed truck closed with Sunbelt’s temporary lighting structure at the entrance to the detention center, according to footage taken by Jessica Namas, the founder of the public land advocacy group Floridian.

It was not easy for Big Cypress National Reserve to become the country’s first “Dark Sky” park in 2016. Staff had to modify hundreds of lighting fixtures and create guidelines that allow them to turn on the lights at night.

In applications considering large cypress, Park Services is focusing on the existence of Dade Carrier training and transition airports within the boundaries of the reserve, namely where detention centres currently stand.

The only night use at the airport was an emergency landing, not one in 25 years.

“There are no plans to expand or change the layout or use of (the airport),” staff wrote at the time.

John Valentin, who oversaw the Dark Sky program while Big Cypress was being considered, said the current use of the airport in the lighting surrounding the detention facility would likely disqualify the reserve from being named Dark Sky Park.

“That would have been a problem,” Valentine said.

He compared the situation to Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. When the park was applied to be called Dark Sky Park, the lighting at the Jobcorpse Centre pulled out this process for years.

Darksky International said in a statement that construction of detention facilities “requires the strictest application of the principle of dark friendly lighting.” Since 1988, the group has designated around 200 locations around the world that work to dodge light contamination.

“Many people think that the Everglades will fall asleep at sunset, but that’s not true. That’s when they’re awake,” Suleiman said.

But now, dusk also awakens the light of what looks like a baseball stadium from afar.

“I want people to know that the Everglades are one of the last places in Florida where these night skys are located,” Suleiman said.

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