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For teachers

8 stations on this tour

1. Arctic Tern — Pole To Pole

   The Arctic Tern makes the longest migration of any animal — 71,000 km annually, pole to pole and back. Breeding in the Arctic (Iceland, Scandinavia, Canada) and wintering in Antarctica, these 100-gram birds experience more daylight than any other creature on Earth. Over a 30-year lifespan, a single tern flies the equivalent of 3 round…

2. Humpback Whale — Ocean Marathon

   Humpback whales migrate up to 16,000 km per year — one of the longest migrations of any mammal. They feed in polar waters (Antarctica, Alaska) during summer, then travel to tropical breeding grounds (Hawaii, Caribbean, Tonga) in winter. They can travel 1,000+ km without eating, living off stored blubber. Their songs — complex…

3. Monarch Butterfly — 4 Generations

   Monarch butterflies migrate 4,800 km from Canada/USA to central Mexico each autumn — but no single butterfly makes the round trip. It takes 4 generations: the "super generation" born in autumn flies south to winter in oyamel fir forests near Mexico City, then begins the return north in spring. Their descendants continue northward over 3…

4. Wildebeest — Serengeti Circuit

   The Great Migration in East Africa involves ~1.5 million wildebeest, 400,000 zebras, and 200,000 gazelles circling 800 km between Tanzania's Serengeti and Kenya's Masai Mara. This annual clockwise migration follows rainfall and fresh grass. The Mara River crossings are among nature's most dramatic spectacles — thousands of animals plunge…

5. Caribou — Arctic Herds

   The Porcupine caribou herd migrates 2,400 km annually between winter ranges in Alaska's interior and calving grounds on the Arctic coastal plain — one of the longest land migrations on Earth. Up to 200,000 caribou travel together, crossing frozen rivers and mountain passes. Their hooves change with the seasons: soft pads in summer for…

6. Leatherback Turtle — Deep Diver

   Leatherback sea turtles migrate up to 16,000 km across entire ocean basins — from nesting beaches in the tropics to feeding grounds in sub-Arctic waters. They can dive to 1,280 meters (deeper than any other turtle) and cross the Atlantic in 150 days. Females return to the exact beach where they hatched to lay eggs, navigating by Earth's…

7. White Stork — Europe To Africa

   European White Storks migrate 20,000 km annually between breeding grounds in Europe and wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa. They avoid crossing the Mediterranean Sea (no thermal updrafts over water), instead funneling through the Strait of Gibraltar or the Bosphorus. Some storks now winter in Spain and Portugal, feeding on landfill…

8. Bar-Tailed Godwit — Nonstop Record

   In 2022, a Bar-tailed Godwit (B6) flew 13,560 km nonstop from Alaska to Tasmania — the longest recorded nonstop flight of any bird. These 300-gram shorebirds fly for 11 days without eating, drinking, or sleeping, crossing the entire Pacific Ocean. Before departure, they nearly double their body weight with fat reserves while their…

Worksheet — Great Migrations — Epic Animal Journeys