If lightning strikes the ocean?

Question

Will the whole ocean get electrocuted? Will all the fish die? what are the chances?


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Answer 1

First, pure water is an insulator. Salt and impurities make it conduct. Second, you cannot separate voltage, current and resistance. They are related to each other. The voltage of the lightning strike, along with the resistance of the water determines the current allowed to flow. Current is limited by resistance. Current can be increased by increasing voltage or decreasing resistance. Therefore, the distance from the strike will increase resistance and therefore decrease current; voltage will drop as well (as in a voltage divider circuit). There are several laws that I can think of, (multiples of resistance, etc) that would probably help answer the question, but it's just not that simple. It's not even known why lightning "chooses" the path it takes in the first place. Bottom line, if you can see lightning, get out of the water.

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.

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 near the animal? Lightning comes in all shapes and sizes. What if it's a lesser discharge? 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).
But anyways...it all really depends. Hope this helps.

:-)

Answer 2

they simply die if a volcano is erupting, and the water develop into acidic... I watched Dante's height guy. i understand that crap for a certainty. Acid lake water eats via boats too. Srsly.