How do blind lobsters find their way back home?

Larry C. Boles and Kenneth J. Lohmann, researchers from North Caroline University organized a series of experiments to examine the navigation talent lobsters have. Lobsters that were captured in the Caribbean were displaced 12 to 37 kilometers (7.5 to 23 miles) from their point of capture by boat. They made sure to keep the lobsters from seeing anything: Lobsters were placed in containers partially filled with seawater; the containers were covered and transported to testing sites via circuitous routes. In order to prevent them from perceiving the environment, some disorienting tricks were employed. For instance, containers were suspended by ropes, swinging erratically. In order to prevent lobsters from navigating by using the earth’s magnetic field as a compass, strong magnets were used to establish complicated magnetic fields in the containers.

After all these tricks and disorientation, the lobsters were released into the sea. Despite the fact that their eyes were covered with a particular plastic material, the lobsters were able to ascertain the direction of their capture site and to move homewards. Scientists observed that the lobsters had wasted no time being puzzled.

Compass is inadequate to describe lobsters

What is the source of such a splendid talent? Some researchers think that living beings use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate. These scientists assume that there is a kind of compass hidden in the body of these living beings. Nevertheless, comparing the compass to this talent is inadequate.

Charles Walcott, a professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University in New York said: “We know that lots of animals use the earth’s magnetic field as a compass. But if you become lost, a compass cannot tell you where you are. (Lobsters Navigate by Magnetism, Study Says, January 6, 2003)

The researcher Boles emphasizes the superiority of this talent lobsters have: “It’s precisely the test that most animals fail. Once they pass, it implies that they somehow know where they are all the time, that something is built-in.”

As a result, lobsters form a magnetic map within their bodies and can follow the coordinates since the capture point. This mechanism which remains unsolved by the scientists, works like the electronic radar systems in an aeroplane.

Scientists were most surprised to find that these lobsters, supplied with a splendid system, have a relatively complex neural system. Boles comments upon this in the following:

“I think that a big issue is the general thought that invertebrates, because of their relatively simple nervous systems, might not have the necessary mental capacity to do this kind of thing.”

For lobsters to achieve all of this is a great miracle. Now, ask yourself this question and think about it:

Imagine yourself in a large desert. Imagine that you are taken into a jeep and dropped off 200 kilometres away, after being transported via circuitous routes with your eyes and ears closed. Will you be able to get back to your capture point? Of course, not!

Well, then how is this particular navigation system formed in lobsters? If you consider the simplest compass ever, it is crystal clear to the eye that even that is particularly designed. The magnetic needle on the compass, the particularly marked directions, the glass cover, these are all the signs showing you that this particular tool is a work of design. It is obvious that this particular system in the lobster’s body is superior in comparison to a compass. These are the signs that this system of the lobster is specially created.

Allah created the lobster and supplied it with this particular system. The Almighty Allah is the Creator of all beings and He is the Initiator in the most perfect way.
 

He is Allah – the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form.To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.” (Surah Al-Hashr, 24)