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Regional Magnetic Fields as Navigational Markers for Sea Turtles
Kenneth J. Lohmann,*Shaun D. Cain,Susan A. Dodge,Catherine M. F. Lohmann
Young loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from
eastern Florida undertake a transoceanic migration in which they
graduallycircle the north Atlantic Ocean before returning to the NorthAmerican coast. Here we report that hatchling loggerheads, whenexposed
to magnetic fields replicating those found in three widelyseparated
oceanic regions, responded by swimming in directionsthat would, in
each case, help keep turtles within the currentsof the North Atlantic
gyre and facilitate movement along the migratorypathway. These results
imply that young loggerheads have a guidancesystem in which regional
magnetic fields function as navigationalmarkers and elicit changes in
swimming direction at crucial geographicboundaries.
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
NC 27599, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
klohmann{at}email.unc.edu
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[DOI: 10.1126/science.294.5541.283a] |Summary »|Full Text »
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