How on Earth do sea turtles find their way back to where they hatched?

Nesting sea turtles require a delicate ecological mix: the right sand, the correct temperature and an easily accessible beach with few predators. To be sure of laying their eggs in the best place, the turtles go back to the beach where they hatched themselves – if it worked for their mothers, so it should work for them.

By studying nesting sites in Florida, a team from the University of North Carolina discovered that the turtles seek out unique magnetic signatures along the coast. As hatchlings, they imprint on the magnetic field of their natal beach and then use this information to return as adults.

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• Where do sea turtles spend their ‘lost’ years?

They detect the geomagnetic field via tiny magnetic particles in the brain that respond to the Earth’s field and give the turtles a ‘magnetic sense’.

• These 9 beautiful photos of sea turtles prove just how majestic (and fearless) these marine creatures can be

• “The tiny turtles’ perilous haul is akin to a marathon across the world’s most dangerous obstacle course.”
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