These aquatic reptiles swim thousands of miles across the open ocean to return to the same foraging grounds and nesting sites. They don’t always take the shortest, most direct route, but they do eventually get to where they’re going.

Sea turtles are capable of creating GPS-like magnetic maps to guide them back to foraging grounds, and they do a little dance when they recognize those spots

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The turtles danced with the most enthusiasm in the tank when they knew they would get food. This was "strong evidence" that turtles can learn the magnetic signatures of "specific geographical areas", the researchers said. Even when tested four months later, the turtles still knew where they should dance.

Loggerhead sea turtles do an excited "turtle dance" when anticipating food. It's adorable, of course, but it has also allowed scientists to understand better how the turtles navigate. Scientists have theorized that sea turtles memorize coordinates to navigate using a magnetic "map.

Dancing turtles have proved for the first time that some animals use Earth's magnetic field to create a personal map of their favorite spots, scientists said Wednesday.