Dancing Turtles Reveal Secrets of Magnetic Navigation

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Twirling Turtles

Dancing sea turtles navigate Earth’s magnetic field for food. Researchers used the turtles’ anticipatory meal dance to test their magnetic navigation.

• Captive loggerhead sea turtles dance when expecting food

• Flapping in circles as their heads raises above the water

• Turtles were conditioned to feed in specific magnetic fields

After conditioning, the turtles danced when exposed to “food magnetic fields” even if no other feeding triggers were present. Future research will try to uncover the mechanism for how they use magnetic fields. Can’t wait for the map app.

Turtle Maps > Google Maps

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