Sea creatures' strange circular swimming has scientists puzzled

[Judi Lynn]

By Ben Turner - Staff Writer 10 hours ago

The behavior — which has been seen in sharks, turtles, seals and penguins — has yet to be explained.



A green sea turtle swimming in Egypt's Red Sea. (Image credit: Reinhard Dirscherl/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)


Marine animals are swimming in circles, and the scientists who discovered the strange behavior don't know why.

Researchers have now observed green sea turtles, tiger sharks, penguins and Antarctic fur seals swimming in consecutive circles at a constant speed — a mystery the scientists think could be tied to the animals' ability to navigate by magnetism.

Researcher Tomoko Narazaki first recorded the behavior after moving a group of green turtles away from their breeding ground so that she could study how they would navigate back home. She found that, despite having a fixed destination in mind, the GPS-tracker-fitted turtles would often pause to swim in circles.

"To be honest, I doubted my eyes when I first saw the data, because the turtle circles so constantly, just like a machine," Narazaki, of the University of Tokyo's Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, said in a statement.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/marine-animals-swimming-in-circles-mystery.html?utm_source=notification

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. I wonder if this is a recent phenomenon or has it been going on for ages?

[IA8IT]

2. Worm Tornado in NJ

https://www.livescience.com/squirming-worm-tornado-new-jersey.html

Spring rains often bring scores of earthworms to the surface, where they writhe on top of soil and sidewalks. But recently, heavy rainfall in a town near New York City was followed by something a little more unusual: a wormnado.

A resident of Hoboken, New Jersey was out for a morning walk in a park near the Hudson River on March 25, when she spotted hundreds of worms spread along the walkway. The woman, who asked not to be identified, told Live Science that after her initial surprise she noticed something even more bizarre — a number of the worms had formed a cyclone-like shape, creating a spiral where the edge of the grass met the concrete.

The woman took photographs and sent them to Tiffanie Fisher, a member of the Hoboken City Council, who shared the images of the "tornado of worms" on Facebook. "Clearly worms come out after it rains but this is something I've never seen!" Fisher wrote in the post.

.webp

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Isn't this the year the magnetic poles shift?

[eppur_se_muova]

4. recalibrating .... recalibrating .... recalibrating .... nt

[RainCaster]

5. Normal behavior for many species...

Even your cell phone does this internally. This is to update/calibrate the magnetic compass inside.