Sunday, February 9, 2014

09/02/2014: Using the globe's electromagmentic fields to navigate the oceans

Salmon use the earth's electromagnetic fields to navigate the oceans, reports Margaret Badore on the 'Treehugger' website.

Researchers from Oregon State University in the USA, published the findings in Current Biology that support this theory.

Prior to this there was an estabished correlation between magnetic fields and salmon migratory patterns. However, to put the theory to the test, researchers at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center observed the effects of different magnetic fields on juvenile Chinook salmon. They found that the fish re-oriented themselves to swim towards the center of their feeding grounds, indicating that they use magnetic fields to find their way.

CC BY 2.0 composite image
"What is particularly exciting about these experiments is that the fish we tested had never left the hatchery ..." says Nathan Putman said in a statement. that suggests the fish are pre-programmed to know what they should be doing before reaching the seas.

Reade more on this exciting development here ....

No comments:

Post a Comment