When people go on a long journey they often need some kind of direction. So how do birds, insects, fish and many other animals manage to find their way long distances?

Salmon (top right) begin their lives in rivers or freshwater lakes, but travel to the ocean, swimming as much as 3200 km (2,000 miles) where they spend up to 4 years feeding. They then travel back to the river they came from to lay their eggs! They will even leap up waterfalls if necessary. Scientists don’t fully understand how they find their way home, but believe the fish are guided by their sense of smell. European Eels (below right) undertake an incredible 5,000 km (3,125 mile) journey, from rivers to part of the Atlantic Ocean, known as the Sargasso Sea. There the females spawn (lay their eggs) and die. The tiny “elvers” then begin a 300-day swim along the Gulf Stream, back to where their parents came from. Although many are eaten by predators, some make it back, even wriggling through wet grass to find the right river or lake. When the eels are mature they start all over again. How they find their way is a mystery, though some scientists believe they may follow the earth’s magnetic field.

Monarch butterflies (top left) are one of nature’s most amazing travellers. Every year millions of them migrate from Canada to the southern USA and Mexico to spend the winter — a distance of 4,000 km (2,400 miles) — covering 128 km (80 miles) a day! What is even more amazing is that the butterflies that fly south have never been there before, and the ones that return the following spring are not the same ones which flew south in the autumn! This is because the butterflies only live for a few months. In the spring, as they fly north, the females lay eggs and die. The eggs hatch, and after going through the caterpillar and chrysalis stage, the newly-hatched butterflies continue the journey their parents began. But even this generation won’t live long enough to complete the journey, so another lot of eggs must hatch. The butterflies which eventually arrive back where the migration started have never been there, and may be the great-grandchildren of those that left the previous year! How do these tiny insects find their way year after year? Scientists have discovered that monarchs have tiny “clocks” in their feelers (antenna) which help them use the sun’s position to navigate. But even this doesn’t explain how they can fly to places they have never seen. They must have been specially created by God with the ability to do this.
Painted Lady butterflies (lower left) breed in early spring in the Sahara desert of Africa. Millions of them hatch, then they fly north to England and other parts of western Europe, a journey of about 3,300 km (2,000 miles)., where they spend the summer. In the Autumn they fly south again to North Africa — another amazing journey!

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Below are some of the contents of issue No. 98

Pigeons have their own "compass"
For centuries people have wondered how pigeons find their way home over long distances. Some can fly 500 miles in a day. As long ago as 2,900 BC, the ancient Egyptians used pigeons to carry “air mail” messages, and they were also used to send messages during the Second World War. Scientists have now discovered that pigeons use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Using X-Rays these scientists discovered that pigeons have tiny iron particles in their upper beaks which change direction like a compass needle.