Longest Animal Migrations
The approximate distances animals travel in a year during migration, in kilometres. The Arctic tern makes the longest journey of any animal, flying pole to pole and back - roughly 70,000 km a year - chasing endless summer at both ends of th...
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Longest Animal MigrationsThe Arctic tern (≈70,000 km) makes by far the longest migration of any animal, flying from Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctic feeding waters and back each year - over a lifetime, equivalent to several round trips to the Moon. The sooty shearwater (≈65,000 km) is a close second, and both are seabirds that exploit flight's efficiency to cover oceanic distances. A large gap separates them from the marine mammals and reptiles: the humpback whale (≈22,000 km) and leatherback turtle (≈20,000 km) manage roughly a third as far, limited by the slower pace of swimming. The land-bound caribou (≈5,000 km) makes the longest terrestrial migration but travels a fraction of the airborne champions' distance, underlining how flight unlocks journeys no walking or swimming animal can match.
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Longest Animal Migrations
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