Automatic Navigation Skills Used by Animals

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

There are many creatures that have adapted to a lifestyle of migration from one part of the world to another, usually covering thousands of kilometers but they get about the navigation process with such great precision that scientists have continued to remain confounded.  Below are some of the animals that baffle scientists in their navigation skills and methods.

 Salmon and Leather backs

Salmons can swim thousands of kilometers in the ocean and return to the stream where they were born to mate and bear off-springs of their own according to the dictates of nature. Leatherback sea turtles on the other hand have been tracked on their migratory expedition and were found to have moved a distance of 20,000km from Indonesia to the coast of Oregon in the United states of America. Leatherback often return to the same spot in Indonesia where they nest again and they do this without ever getting lost!

 Albatross and Pigeons.

 Some creatures are just gifted with the power of locating their Home, which seem to be more remarkable than the navigation the navigation skills that other migratory animals are endowed with. Scientists took 18 albatross by plane from a small Island in the centre of the Pacific to several locations thousands of miles away and released them. Some were released as far as the western rim of the ocean while others in the eastern rim. Within weeks, most of the Albatross had returned home. Pigeons on the other hand have also been transported more than 150km to unfamiliar places while under anesthesia or in rotating drums yet when released, they would circle around a few minutes as they  easily calculate their positions in relation to home and quickly find their ways back home.

 Monarch Butterflies

From the vast areas of North America, Monarch butterflies migrate more than 1700km to a small area of Mexico. Even when they have never been to Mexico before, they find their ways to the same trees where their great grand parents roosted for many generations before them. It is generally this skill of navigation that still baffles researchers.Whereas automatic navigation devices humans use depends totally on satellites, many animals seem to be able to use other natural navigational methods. They observe landmarks, the sun and detect the magnetic fields, distinctive smells and sounds. Scientists believe that animals whose lives depend on accurate navigation are uniformly over engineered to get the navigation information they need.