Lightning strikes fish
![Lightning hitting the open ocean [Moonraker Australia Communication Systems]](2004-03-05-lightning.jpg) Q:
If lightning strikes the ocean, do the marine animals get hurt or killed? Vicki, Sault Ste. Marie, Minnesota
A: A single lightning stroke can deliver a billion electron
volts and 100,000 amps. Air within a lightning stroke can be hotter than the
Sun’s surface.
Lightning hitting the open ocean Photo courtesy of Moonraker
Australia Communication Systems.
So, yes, if such a lightning bolt directly hits a marine
animal swimming on the surface, it will undoubtedly hurt or kill her.
But, that’s not quite your question. What if the bolt strikes
the water nearby the animal? Lightning comes in all shapes and sizes. What if
it’s a lesser discharge? Ah, this gets tricky but it would probably harm her, at
least. If she’s down deep, though, she’s safe.
When lightning strikes the ocean or other large water bodies,
it spreads out over the conducting surface. It also penetrates down and can kill
fish in the nearby region, says Don MacGorman, physicist at the National Severe
Storms Laboratory (NSSL).
"Lightning strikes have killed or injured people on the
surface more than 30 yards away," says David Schultz of the NSSL.
In fact, the 45th Weather Squadron lists water as
the second most dangerous place to be during a thunderstorm. (The first is an
open field.)
Lightning, however, rarely strikes most of the open ocean
although some sea regions are lightning "hot spots". The Gulf Stream, for
example, where fish abound, has as many lightning strikes as the southern plains
of the USA.
Lightning-producing storms arrive on the west coast of the
U.S. frequently during the winter, says Schultz. "Winter storms passing off the
east coast often erupt with electrical activity when they cross the warm waters
of the Gulf Stream."
But, as Schultz says: "We really have no idea about the
mortality rate of marine animals due to thunderstorms." Fortunately, only 10 to
20 percent of humans hit by lightning die and probably the same holds true for
the animals.
Further Reading:
NASA: Where
lightning strikes
Moonraker
Antenna Systems: Lightning at sea
Museum of
Science, Boston: How lightning happens
(Answered Mar. 5, 2004, Updated July 22, 2007)
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