Page 29 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals
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HARUN YAHYA
to lay their eggs. Lohmann and his team wanted to observe
whether or not the turtles made use of regional magnetic fields
to find their migration routes, and set up their study to this end.
They placed electric coils on the outside of a lab tank to create
magnetic fields. 79 newly hatched turtles were fitted with
bathing suits, connected to a computerized tracking system and
put in the tank. The hatchlings were presented with the magnetic
fields with values equivalent to the critical points of their migra-
tory route—those in the northern Florida, off the coast of
Portugal, and in the North Atlantic gyre’s southernmost edge. In
each magnetic field, the turtles began to swim in the direction of
their migratory path. For example, when the magnetic field of
the northeastern gyre was simulated in the tank, the hatchlings
headed to the south. In the real ocean, this would keep them on
the right track and away from fatally cold water. 3
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