{"id":13744,"date":"2025-03-16T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13744"},"modified":"2025-03-06T19:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T19:36:31","slug":"five-animals-behave-differently-moonlight-march-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/five-animals-behave-differently-moonlight-march-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Five animals that behave differently in moonlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n \n Warawut Klinjun\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Anders Hedenstr\u00f6m<\/a>, Lund University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Once every spring, a few days after the full moon, corals of the great barrier reef<\/a> release eggs and sperm simultaneously \u2013 a phenomenon so spectacular it can be seen from space.<\/p>\n\n

Not only does the Moon\u2019s gravitational attraction interact with the Sun to cause our tides (ebb and flow), its orbit around Earth generates different Moon phases<\/a> of varying luminosity. Scientists think the Moon\u2019s light at a certain point each spring may provide a cue to corals that the conditions are right to release eggs and sperm. <\/p>\n\n

The Moon\u2019s cycle indirectly affects some animal behaviour during high and low tides, of course, by excluding them from fertile foraging areas such as coastal mudflats. But the sunlight that is reflected off the Moon also has a direct influence on animal behaviour. For example, to those animals that rely on vision for foraging, moonlight is a resource. To others that are at risk of being killed at night, it is a menace.<\/p>\n\n

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