Long before GPS, Polynesian sailors crossed the Pacific by reading stars, waves, winds, birds and clouds

Polynesian sailors/ Image: Wikipedia Centuries before GPS satellites, magnetic compasses or detailed nautical charts existed, Polynesian voyagers were crossing one of Earth's most challenging landscapes: the vast Pacific Ocean. Setting out in double-hulled canoes, they travelled thousands of kilometres between tiny islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the planet. Remarkably, they did so without any modern navigation tools. Instead, they relied on an extraordinary understanding of the stars, ocean swells, winds, clouds, wildlife and memory. What might seem impossible today was once a refined science passed down through generations, allowing Polynesian societies to settle nearly every habitable island across the central and southern Pacific.Long before satellites and compasses, how the Polynesian navigators mastered the world's largest oceanPolynesian navigation was never based on a single technique. It was a sophisticated system that combined multiple environmental clues, each reinforcing the others. Master navigators, often known as wayfinders, memorised the rising and setting positions of hundreds of stars. These celestial markers acted as a compass, hel...