• Question: when lightning strikes the sea, why don't all the fish die?

    Asked by anon-187186 to Stewart, Miriam, Marton, Laura, Kathryn, David on 13 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: David Ho

      David Ho answered on 13 Nov 2018:

      This is a great question. I think the answer is probably that the energy in lightning is spread out over such a big area that it’s not enough to kill fish. Maybe if a fish got directly struck by lightning it wouldn’t do so well, but if it’s far away it probably wouldn’t feel any electric shock.

    • Photo: Stewart Martin-Haugh

      Stewart Martin-Haugh answered on 13 Nov 2018:

      Good question!

      Water conducts electricity well: this is why you should never use a toaster in the bath (apart from the risk of soggy toast, of course!). But the electricity doesn’t move very far under the water: it’s easier for the electricity to move across the surface of the water. So unless fish are near the surface they won’t get hit by lightning.

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