Birds, amphibians & reptiles, and marine animals navigate by sensing changes in Earth’s magnetic field. We already know life on Earth is dependent on its magnetic field thanks to the powerful electrical currents it creates, and scientists have proven that some animals use magnetic sense, but we wanted to dig deeper into the why and how magnetic fields are so important to keep animals going where they need to go.  Magnetoreception: How Animals Use Magnetism to Find Their Way Some animal’s ability to migrate has been shown to rely on the presence of magnetism, with Earth’s magnetic fields acting as an internal GPS. This phenomenon is referred to as magnetoreception, which you can read more about the specifics in this previous blog post here.  Animals known to have magnetoreception includes birds, salmon, frogs, sea turtles, honey bees, salamanders, lobsters, dolphins, and rodents, though, we’re not exactly sure what helps animals to sense the conditions of the magnetic field. Recently, there’s been interesting research into sea turtles and how they use their magnetoreception to find their birthplaces, even after being taken far away from these sites. You can read more about sea turtles’ magnetoreception here.  One of the most accepted theories is that animals have magnetite, a magnetic material, in them. This is considered The Compass Protein Theory.  The Compass Protein Theory You can read all about this theory in this previous Apex article, in short, the Compass Protein Theory states that the protein-- Cry4, part of a protein class called a cryptochrome that is sensitive to blue light and helps regulate circadian rhythm, -- has been found to be the reason why certain animals are able to visualize magnetic fields. The proteins IscA1 and Cry4, when formed, are theorized to create the bond to be able to “see” Earth’s magnetic field, though this is still highly debated as humans also have magnetite -- and cannot “see” magnetic fields.  A study we’ve written about, originally published online in eNeuro, determined that through studying brain waves, humans can potentially have magnetoreception abilities. They found that when participants went through magnetic field rotation, distinct brain wave patterns occurred. So, to some degree, the brain reacts to the changes in the direction of a magnetic field.   The Downsides to Magnetoreception Though being able to have an internal GPS system seems great, some animals have negative experiences thanks to this ability. Gray whales are believed to use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate, but on days with high levels of radio-frequency noise, caused by solar storms -- events on the sun in which large quantities of high-energy particles are ejected -- Earth experiences unusually high levels of electromagnetic radiation. When this happens, whale strandings were four times more likely. They’ve found that these frequencies don’t relate in terms of it giving the whales wrong info, but rather these storms are “blinding” them from seeing magnetic fields.  Discover More With Apex Magnets Today We are constantly on the lookout for new discoveries about magnetism in space! For more fresh and interesting content,  browse our blog or subscribe to our newsletter today.