--- description: According to a French study released Monday, dolphins are attracted to magnets. Platonically, of course. title: Dolphins are Attracted to Magnets, Says Study image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5760fa186523bf4/6986a619e53aba6dbc4d4aee/133103067.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Dolphins Are Apparently Attracted to Magnets by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2014 1:04 PM CUT  Dolphin in aquarium of Barcelona Dolphin in aquarium of Barcelonavdorse—Getty Images/Flickr RF by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2014 1:04 PM CUT According to a [French study released Monday](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-014-1231-x "undefined"), dolphins are attracted to magnets. Platonically, of course. To find out if dolphins are magnetosensitive—or able to sense Earth’s magnetic field—researchers tested how six bottleneck dolphins swimming freely independently reacted to barrels containing both magnetized and demagnetized blocks. --- > “” --- If the findings hold up to scrutiny, it would be a momentous discovery. Although many animals are suspected to orient themselves using the Earth’s magnetic pull, there’s precious little proof that this is the case. [Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine](http://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2012/apr/27/1 "undefined") concluded in 2012 that pigeons have magnetosensitive GPS cells in their brains. We don’t quite know where this fits into [dolphins’ plot to take over the world,](http://www.theonion.com/articles/dolphins-evolve-opposable-thumbs,284/ "undefined") but now that they might be working with the pigeons, we are utterly terrified. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3449290/dolphins-are-attracted-to-magnets-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3449290/dolphins-are-attracted-to-magnets-study/"},"headline":"Dolphins Are Apparently Attracted to Magnets","datePublished":"2014-09-30T13:04:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:28.758Z","description":"Where does this fit into their plot for world domination?","url":"https://time.com/3449290/dolphins-are-attracted-to-magnets-study/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5760fa186523bf4/6986a619e53aba6dbc4d4aee/133103067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5760fa186523bf4/6986a619e53aba6dbc4d4aee/133103067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"133103067","caption":"133103067","creditText":"vdorse—Getty Images/Flickr RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3449290/dolphins-are-attracted-to-magnets-study/","name":"Dolphins Are Apparently Attracted to Magnets"}}]}] ```