Science explains biblical fish miracles with rare lake phenomenon

New research suggests that the miracles of Jesus described in the Bible could have more earthly explanations related to natural phenomena occurring in the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias or Kinneret. According to IFL Science, this freshwater lake in Israel is said to be the site of two renowned miracles—the multiplication of loaves and fishes and the miraculous catch of fish.

The first account describes feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, while in the second, the apostles catch a vast number of fish after Jesus instructs them to cast their nets again. In "Water Resources Research," researchers suggest that these "miracles" could have resulted from an upwelling phenomenon. This involves rising oxygen-poor water from deeper layers of the lake to the surface, leading to mass fish die-offs.

Scientists have observed that these phenomena occur in the same part of the lake where the biblical miracles occurred. Their study describes events from May and June 2012, when thousands of dead fish surfaced near the shore. Studies using three-dimensional modeling indicated that the lake becomes stratified in summer, with warm water on the surface and cooler, oxygen-poor water in deeper layers.

IFL Science explains that winds blowing from the west cause internal waves that push low-oxygen water to the surface. If this upwelling happens soon after the layers form, fish may not escape the oxygen-poor zone in time and perish, surfacing. However, this phenomenon is rare—aside from the events of 2012, the authors cite only two other known cases, from 2007 and the early 1990s, which occurred near Tabgha, where Jesus is believed to have performed miracles.

Similar mass fish die-offs have occurred in other parts of the world, including Lake Erie in the United States and Hamilton Harbor in Canada, which may support the scientists' hypothesis. "Our field data and simulation results indicate that the fish kills observed along the shore near Tabgha most likely resulted from upwelling of low-oxygen water. The fish may have died out of lack of oxygen when schools caught in oxygen-deplete water could not escape," the authors noted.