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.

Discover how sea turtles navigate the ocean using their internal GPS and learn about their magnetic field perception.

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

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 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.