1. Creaturely Migrations on a Breathing Planet

Reflecting on species dynamics within the planetary biosphere, this chapter suggests that new insight into the uncanny navigational feats of migratory animals may be gleaned by recognizing the broad Earth not as a passive background upon which these movements occur, but as a dynamic, agential player in these migrations. The long-distance movements of various animals can readily be understood as metabolic processes within the body of the living planet, not unlike the rhythmic systole and diastole of a heartbeat.