Blanding’s turtle hatchlings need only the sun as their compass to guide them on their way to the nearest wetland—and a place of safety. This is according to John Dean Krenz of Minnesota State University in the US, lead author of a study in Springer’s journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The study focused on how this freshwater turtle, native to the US and Canada, is purposefully able to travel in a relatively straight line once it has hatched.