No need to ask for directions: Loggerhead sea turtles rely on two senses for migration
(CN) — Watching hatchling sea turtles take in their new world mere moments before they intently make their way to the sea is an insider’s look at incredible natural perception. Through an awareness of the Earth’s magnetic field, they somehow know just which direction and where to go.
In a study published on Thursday in the Journal of Experimental Biology, new evidence suggests young loggerhead sea turtles understand their position and location based on two magnetic senses; however, the use of their magnetic “map” sense can falter if magnetic pulses interfere.
Loggerheads can understand they are swimming north or south based on their directional or “compass” sense, aligning with the Earth’s magnetic field, while they also have a positional or “map” sense to understand their place within a certain area.
Many animals, including birds on their first migratory flight, rely on their “compass” sense to make it to their destination, and it’s an important part of how animals move and recognize their habitats.
In the new study, Alayna Mackiewicz, researcher in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author, said the turtles’ ability to know where they are on their long migration routes is based on the “map” sense that relies, at least partially, on magnetite-based receptors. Magnetite is an iron oxide mineral found in many different rocks across the globe.
https://www.courthousenews.com/no-need-to-ask-for-directions-loggerhead-sea-turtles-rely-on-two-senses-for-migration/