Arctic tern's epic journey mapped - Democratic Underground

XemaSab

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Sun Feb-21-10 07:32 PM
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Arctic tern's epic journey mapped

The Arctic tern's extraordinary pole-to-pole migration has been detailed by an international team of scientists.

The researchers fitted the birds with tiny tracking devices to see precisely which routes the animals took on their 70,000km (43,000 miles) round trip.

The study reveals they fly down either the African or Brazilian coasts but then return in an "S"-shaped path up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The long-distance adventure is described in the US journal PNAS.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8451908.stm

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Skittles

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Sun Feb-21-10 07:45 PM
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1. so freaking cool

:thumbsup:

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petronius

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Mon Feb-22-10 12:18 AM
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2. Very cool! Iy looks like they follow prevailing winds, except for that southward

leg down west Africa. I wonder if it's a tradeoff - less help from the wind, but more productive cold ocean water?

I remember seeing these in Iceland; they're really beautiful birds. (Well, all terns are, really.)

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