Why Doesn't Lightning Kill All The Fish?

2021-03-17

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Please don’t use a toaster in the bathtub. The combination of electricity and water will be too much for your heart. But why don’t fish have the same problem when lightning strikes the ocean? It’s basically the same thing.

It turns out that a combination of the properties of both electricity and bodies of water protect *most* fish from being cooked alive when lightning hits the ocean. Between electricity’s skin effect and the vast majority of fish not being near the surface, fish have to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time to suffer the effects of an electrical force or a major injection of heat.

It only takes about 100 milliamps of electricity to stop your heart, but even if you’re struck by lightning, chances are you’ll be fine -- just like 99.9999% of fish. And if fish are caught with their metaphorical pants down? Well, there’s just no one around to give them CPR or apply defibrillation to get their systems back to normal, unlike nearly all the victims of lightning strikes in the US.

But yeah, a toaster in the bathtub? Different story.

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Research and Writing by Matthew Tabor