While it’s long been known that sea turtles return to the beaches on which they hatched to lay their own eggs, scientists have been puzzled as to how they navigate to those beaches. A study by University of North Carolina researchers may shed some light.

“Sea turtles migrate across thousands of miles of ocean before returning to nest on the same stretch of coastline where they hatched, but how they do this has mystified scientists for more than 50 years,” says researcher J. Roger Brothers in a press release.

The study indicates that as hatchlings, turtles imprint on the magnetic field of their biological beach, and then as adults rely on these unique magnetic sig- natures along the coast to lead them home.

The hallmarks of imprinting, say the researchers, are that the learning occurs during a critical period, the effects are long-lasting, and the learning cannot be modified easily.

The group analyzed a 19-year database consisting of loggerhead nesting grounds along the eastern coast of Florida, where they found “a strong association between the spatial distribution of turtle nests and subtle shifts in the Earth’s magnetic field.”

Researchers have yet to determine exactly how turtles detect the geomagnetic field. “The only way a female turtle can be sure that she is nesting in a place favorable for egg development is to nest on the same beach where she hatched,” Brothers says. “The logic of sea turtles seems to be, ‘If it worked for me, it should work for my offspring.’”

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