Migrating turtles don’t really know where they’re going, study shows

Hawksbill turtles often travel circuitous routes for short distances - one swam 1,306km to reach an island just 176km away

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How migrating animals like sea turtles navigate hundreds to thousands of kilometres across the open ocean has intrigued biologists since Charles Darwin. But some sea turtles might not really know where they're going, new research suggests.

Analysis by an international team of scientists has mapped the movements of hawksbill turtles as they swam from their nesting grounds in the Chagos Archipelago to foraging sites also in the Indian Ocean.

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