How Do Sea Turtles Find the Exact Beach Where They Were Born?
The marine reptiles use Earth's magnetic field as a guide back home, new study says.
For loggerhead sea turtles, home is where your (magnetic) heart is.
After hatching on beaches around the world, these huge marine reptiles undertake multiyear, epic migrations at sea. Then, the turtles return to the exact spot where they were born to mate and lay their own eggs.
Scientists have long known that the turtles, like many animals, navigate at sea by sensing the invisible lines of the magnetic field, similar to how sailors use latitude and longitude. But they didn't know how the turtles were able to return to the very spot where they were born. (See "Migrating Monarch Butterflies Use Magnetic Compass to Cut Through Clouds.")
Now a new study has the answer: The turtles also rely on Earth's
