Don’t set your watch to the migration timetable of the Galápagos giant tortoise—it doesn’t follow a predictable schedule the way so many other animal migrations do. Scientists first tracked the migration of giant tortoises in the Galápagos Islands in 2013, and they’ve discovered that not only is it marvelously slow, it’s kind of erratic, and flies in the face of human understanding as to why and how most animals migrate. Only the older tortoises make the roughly 6-mile climb out of the soggy jungle up into the hills—in this case, the slopes of Alcedo Volcano on Isabela Island. The journey is loosely related to mating, but researchers think there may be many other unknown variables at play. Whatever compelled these two lumbering giants up here, in about six months, they’ll start the slow climb back down to the jungle.
A long, erratic commute
Today in History
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Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
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Sparkling ice diamonds on a black sandy beach
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Whangārei Falls in New Zealand
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Westerheversand Lighthouse
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Illuminations on the Gulf of Poets
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Jazzed for Mardi Gras
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A long winter’s nap, perhaps?
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Dragon dance performed in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China
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Beech trees and wild anemones, Jutland, Denmark
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Infrared Jupiter, erupting Io
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Kiteboarding and windsurfing in Croatia
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National Take a Hike Day
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The Cathedral of Florence, Italy
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A wild, craggy corner of the United States
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Waiānapanapa State Park, Maui, Hawaii
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How green is my valley
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Christmas market at Belvedere Palace in Vienna
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The Christmas Bird Count begins
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Just another day in paradise
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Spreadsheet Day
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Penguin Awareness Day
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Is that a smile?
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A hit ballet, long after its debut
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Autumn in the Prosecco Hills
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A spectacle unlike any other
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Mossy Grotto Falls, Oregon
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Land ho in New Zealand 250 years ago
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Old Town in Prague, Czech Republic
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Cannes, France, in the spotlight
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It s Star Wars Day