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.

Loggerhead turtles “dance” when exposed to food-associated magnetic fields, and their magnetic map may help them return to specific areas after long migrations.

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.

Some animals that migrate across the globe-such as birds, salmon, lobsters and sea turtles-are known to navigate using the magnetic field lines that stretch from Earth's north to south pole

Young sea turtles actively swim and choose their paths instead of drifting. New satellite tracking reveals their movements.

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.