Move over Happy Feet, there’s a new adorable dancing animal in town: a recent study has found that baby loggerhead turtles perform a lively and downright adorable jig when their favourite feeding spots are near.
The new research documented red hot turtle moves such as: tilting their bodies vertically, holding their heads above the water, opening their mouths, performing front flipper movements (that look suspiciously like ‘doggy paddle’), and, occasionally, even spinning in place.
The study wasn't specifically testing how the animals would perform at a disco, however. Turtles are famous for their long-distance migrations and their ability to return to the same feeding spots throughout their lives – and how they navigate these routes has long been a mystery.
The new research suggests they use Earth's magnetic fields as signposts, detecting the unique magnetic signatures of their favourite feeding grounds – and celebrating with a dance when they find them.
In tests, researchers recreated the signatures of two magnetic fields found across Earth – the south field was close to that of the Gulf of Mexico and the north field approximated a location near New Hampshire, US – in two tanks.
Half of the turtles – who were given themed names such as Linguini, Bowtie and Rigatoni, and Dwight, Jim and Pam – were fed only in the Gulf of Mexico tank, and the other half only in the New Hampshire tank. Later, they were exposed to the other location’s magnetic field without any food.
Researchers found that the turtles exhibited significantly higher levels of ‘turtle dance’ behaviour when they were in their designated feeding fields, strongly suggesting that they could distinguish between the two magnetic fields.
As study author Dr Kayla Goforth, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University, explains: "Sea turtles can detect both intensity (the strength of the magnetic field) and inclination angle (the angle magnetic field lines make with Earth’s surface). These two components vary predictably across the globe, and turtles use this to determine map information."
What’s more, the turtles continued to recognise their designated feeding field four months after the initial experiments, despite having no exposure to it in that period. This suggests that not only do turtles recognise magnetic fields, but they have a great memory for them as well.
This has been demonstrated in the wild, where researchers have observed adult female loggerheads returning to their foraging grounds months after migrating to reproduce. Similarly, baby loggerhead turtles migrate seasonally to and from coastal feeding areas located within easy-to-navigate ocean currents.
Previous research has established that loggerhead turtles rely on a ‘magnetic compass’ to navigate as well as the 'magnetic map' ability explored in this latest study. In tests, researchers found that the compass ability seems to rely on chemical magnetoreception, while the magnetic map appeared to depend on a different mechanism.
The research team plans to explore these differences in further research. "We'd like to delve into what the mechanism of the map might be, as well as use it to look at the sensitivity of the magnetic sense – what is the smallest difference in magnetic field turtles can detect?" Goforth said.
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