Migratory animals: if they travel together they don’t get lost.
This is how migratory animals find their way when their inner compass fails. The solution is to look for travel companions.
How do migratory animals not lose their way? How do they manage not to be wrong? Each species has its own special strategies and possesses an Earth’s magnetic field for orientation. Not always reliable for its signal, which can be disturbed. To make no mistake, therefore, migratory animals travel in company.
Using the geomagnetic field is an intelligent idea, but not infallible, given that there may be meteorological events that can disturb the signal. Magnetic fields created by humans can also interfere with the Earth. To circumvent these problems, a study was carried out with a computer model built to simulate the migration of groups of animals. Various navigation strategies have been applied . One is to move close to the other members of the group, on the other the one that leads in the desired direction based on the earth’s magnetic field.
The simulation of the experiment showed that if migratory animals travel in company they find the right way even in the face of calculation errors. If, on the other hand, they travel alone they fail to correct their calculations and therefore to reach their destination. In short, if migratory animals travel in groups it is better. However , this strategy is valid up to a certain number of specimens. As populations decrease, it is more complicated to meet other animals while traveling and join them for better navigation.
