Increased solar activity causing disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field may cause whales to run aground in the North Sea, say researchers. Analysis of whales stranded between 1712 and 2003 shows that more are stranded when solar activity is high. Writing in the Journal of Sea Research, scientists propose that whales use the Earth's magnetic field to assist navigation like homing pigeons do. As the Sun disrupts the magnetic field whales can become confused, they say. Animal magnetism The Sun goes through a cycle with an average length of about 11 years, though individual cycle lengths have ranged from 8...