• Question: When lightning hits the sea, how come all the fish don't die?

    Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Daren Fearon

      Daren Fearon answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      The fish very close to the lightning strike will die but as the ocean is so big the charge spreads over a large area quite quickly leaving the fish further away unharmed.

    • Photo: Lynne Thomas

      Lynne Thomas answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      Water acts as an insulator and so when the lightening strikes the water, it can only travel very short distances. Fish right near the surface might be killed but fish further away will not be affected.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      I really like this question! I think Daren and Lynne have done a good job answering it already.

    • Photo: Phillip Manning

      Phillip Manning answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      When lightening hits water it mostly dissipates across the surface, with very little effects at depth. If the water is salty, then it conducts slightly better and the size of charge dissipation increases. If a fish was near the surface, it would be ‘toast’, otherwise, it would probably just enjoy the light show.

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