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Seiche-induced fish-kills in the Sea of Galilee may explain the biblical miraculous catch of fish

Ehud Strobach¹, Shmuel Assouline¹

Tamar Zohary², Aminadav Nishri², Yael Amitai²

David Hamilton³

¹ Agricultural Research Organization, Israel

² Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Israel

³Griffith University, Australia

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Painting by Rafael, c. 1515: The miraculous draft of fishes

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/ywH0tF2CcmYUxA

Luke 5:1-11

Jesus: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything…”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

The miracle story (Luke 5:1–11):

¹One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.

²He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

⁵Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

⁹For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,

¹⁰and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

¹¹So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

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Massive Fish-Kill near Tabgha

1. Early 90s

2. End of April 2007

3. May 30, 2012

4. June 27, 2012

Common to all events:

Similar geographic location
During the Spring
The fish were not poisoned
No disease or epidemic
Kinneret bream (Acanthobrama terraesanctae)

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June 27, 2012 fish kill event

Hypothesis: Lack of oxygen. Reason: internal wave results in deflection of the thermocline, upwelling the deep colder hypoxic/anoxic water to the surface

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How does internal waves in the See of Galilee form?

Thermocline

Mediterranean sea breeze

Epilimnion – warmer high oxygen

Hypolimnion – Colder and no oxygen

Level decrease

Level increase

Made by Alon Rimmer

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How does internal waves in the See of Galilee form?

Thermocline deepening

Mediterranean sea breeze

warm

Cold, anoxic

Level decrease

Level increase

Thermocline upwelling

Made by Alon Rimmer

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Lake �Kinneret

(T-chain)

M (Met sta.)

Israel

May 2012 event

Reports from the sea

On the night of 30-31 May, 2012, a KLL team had conducted by boat an echosounder fish survey. As they exited the bay next to KLL, they noticed hundreds of fish at the water surface, opening their mouths for air.
CTD probe at 21:33 h was lunched
May 31, 2012 in the morning: occasional observers reported seeing thousands of dead fish along the lake shore

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Wind speed (blue, station M) and 10m lake temperature (red, station F)

Observations

Elevated Hypolimnion
Colder water
Temperature at 12.5 m depth of 21 ^oC
Oxygen depletion below the 12.5 m depth
Strong winds

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Coupled model simulation using SKRIPS

MITgcm

Initial and boundary conditions from ERA5 (25 km²)

3D, 400 m² x 47 layers

WRF

3D, 400 m² x 32 layers

Exchange of

air-sea fluxes (heat, water and momentum)

Lake initial condition (spun-up MITgcm-only simulation)

Future 3D atmosphere-lake conditions

May 29, 2012 case

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T (^oC)

F- measured

F- modelled

KLL- modelled

Observations vs model

On the night of 30-31 May:

Upwelling of cold water to 6 m depth in station F and the coupled simulation.
Upwelling of cold water to the surface.

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Green: The 21 ^◦C depth

Black arrows: scaled current

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Strong winds that induce internal waves.
Timing: shortly after the onset of thermal stratification, when the epilimnion is thin.
Timing: when the hypolimnion is already anoxic.
A school of fish has to be present nearshore where the upwelling takes place.
The fish have to be sensitive to low dissolved oxygen levels.

Conditions for Fish-Kill in the See of Galilee

Could Jesus predict a massive fish-kill in the Sea of Galilee?