Humpback whales are able to navigate thousands of miles for weeks straight and are so precise navigation as a GPS, according to a study by scientists from New Zealand.
The head of this investigation, Travis Horton, University of Canterbury, told Efe that whales are "surprisingly accurate" when browsing and do not deviate from its course more than one degree azimuth.
The ability to navigate in a straight line is shared by other marine animals like sharks and penguins, but according to Horton, what difference is that humpback whales are able to stay the course at great distances.
study migration routes
Horton and his team continue from 2003 through satellite technology to 16 humpback whales ('Megaptera novaeangliae') between the Brazilian coast , Cook Islands and New Caledonia in the South Pacific to Antarctic waters.
migration routes of more than 6,000 kilometers are made up of a series of straight lines between the various points of departure to the Antarctic waters.
NZ Scientists believe that whales would be using a combination of magnetic fields of Earth and the position of the Sun or other celestial bodies to navigate, as do other animals.
The study, which is in the process of documenting the migration routes of whales, even not able to determine how whales avoid diverting the course and maintain accurate navigation Although ocean currents and other weather changes.
NZ experts have observed in these eight years of research that the routes that whales are "multiple" and that whales follow different routes.
These are "multiple solutions for a common goal," said Horton, who said it is unclear whether knowledge of these migration routes are transmitted from generation to generation and whether the patterns respond to changes in magnetic fields, hormonal patterns or other factors.
Source: Digital Press
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