The deep ocean

characterized by its immense depths and absence of global positioning system (GPS) functionality

presents considerable challenges for search and rescue missions. Inspired by the geolocalization capabilities of migratory marine animals

Bai et al. present a novel method for underwater geolocalization using the polarization patterns of light in the underwater environment. Emulating a sextant using these underwater polarization patterns

the study determines geolocation in underwater settings. Despite prior skepticism

even in low-visibility waters

these patterns

learned through a deep neural network

provide geolocation accuracies of 55 km at 8 m and 255 km at 50 m. This pioneering approach offers implications for search and rescue and hints at navigation mechanisms in marine animals.