sea turtles Archives

Research has answered an interesting question about life in the sea – how do sea turtles find food? They have an extensive diet, including small invertebrates, jellyfish, and fish eggs. The problem is that these food sources are only in small patches scattered across the ocean, so how do sea turtles find them?

The answer relates to Earth’s magnetic field. Sea turtles can create GPS-like magnetic maps of Earth’s oceans. They begin to do this as hatchlings and remember the locations for years or even decades. Loggerhead sea turtles live for about 20 years, and the internal GPS map guides them to food and migration routes for a lifetime. They must begin as hatchlings because many predators can eat a baby turtle. Survival of hatchlings requires that sea turtles find food quickly and grow large enough to escape their predators.

Recent research has shown that sea turtles have two senses for detecting Earth’s magnetic field. One senses the direction of the magnetic field lines, and the other detects magnetic features to locate foraging areas where sea turtles find food and beaches where they can lay their eggs. Research has shown that migrating songbirds also possess these magnetoreception systems.

God has provided all animals with the special equipment they need to survive. We see God’s wisdom and planning everywhere we look in the natural world. As Romans 1:20 says, “We can know there is a God through the things He has made.”

Reference: Scientific American for May 2025, page 21.

Everyone has seen changes in climate patterns worldwide, and in the United States, a Texas cold snap highlights Earth’s design. We need to better understand the global weather systems related to how our planet gets, retains, and releases heat.

Recently an ice-breaker research ship was supposed to get as close as it could to the North Pole. Surprisingly, it was able to get all the way to the pole; something never deemed possible. In February of 2021, Texas experienced a very unusual cold snap. While the media was paying attention to the electric grid’s disruption and water availability problems, the impact on animals was largely overlooked.

In Texas, cold temperatures killed massive numbers of insects and the animals that depend upon them for food. Bats fell from the sky because they had no insects to eat and had no place to go to escape the cold. Milkweed was killed, cutting off the primary food supply for monarch butterflies. Sea turtles could not adjust to the low temperatures, and volunteers took 10,600 turtles to the South Padre Island Convention Center. There they warmed the turtles and eventually returned them to the Gulf of Mexico.

All of those events remind us of the delicate interdependence of life on this planet. We tend to minimize disasters of this magnitude, but we will be reminded later this year. When grocery prices spike because of the lack of Texas-grown fruits and vegetables, we will realize that the Texas cold snap highlights Earth’s design. It should make us aware of how connected we are to other life forms on the planet.

Taking care of Earth’s climate and resources means not allowing human waste of all kinds to upset nature’s balance. We must learn to appreciate God’s design for life everywhere we look. Indeed we can know there is a God “through the things He has made” (Romans 1:19-20).

Data from Associated Press 2/16/21.

Tag: sea turtles

Sea Turtles Find Food

Texas Cold Snap Highlights Earth’s Design