Ancient Polynesians navigated the Pacific by observing the flight of birds
Polynesian wayfinders mastered the vast Pacific Ocean by tracking the flight paths of seabirds, using these natural guides to locate hidden islands long before the invention of modern GPS.
Master navigators relied on the behavior of fairy terns and frigate birds to pinpoint land across thousands of miles of open water. Because these birds typically fly out to sea to fish and return to land to rest, their flight paths acted as biological compasses.
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