We have satellite tracked a broad range of animals ranging from jellyfish to sea turtles and at spatial scales of movement from 10s of meters to 1000s of kilometers. In all these cases animals have to contend with cross-flows which may deflect them off course, analogous the wind impacts on birds and insects. By simultaneously assessing ocean currents, we show how tracked animals are impacted by ocean flows and assess their ability to compensate for lateral displacements. We show how theoretical considerations, such as Zermelo’s route finding in cross flows, can provide a broad umbrella under which to compare orientation responses for currents and winds across a wide range of swimmers and flyers, while Lagrangian wind and current models allow the implications of different behavioral route finding options to be explored.