Sharks use the Earth’s magnetic field as a sort of natural GPS to navigate journeys that take them great distances across the world’s oceans, scientists have found. Robert Hueter, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium“We know that sharks can respond to magnetic fields,” marine policy specialist Bryan Keller said. Researchers exposed 20 bonnethead sharks to magnetic conditions that simulated locations hundreds of kilometres away from where they were caught off of Florida. Researchers said the bonnethead’s reliance on Earth’s magnetic field was probably shared by other species of shark, such as great whites, that made cross-ocean journeys. Mr Keller said it was very unlikely that bonnethead sharks evolved with a magnetic sensitivity and other travelling sharks did not.

Source: Irish Independent May 16, 2021 13:18 UTC