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

On May 31, 2012, thousands of dead fish were found along the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Analysis of fish gill tissue revealed no evidence of poisoning, and the fish looked healthy. This event adds to reports of similar fish kills at the same location, from the early 1990s, from May 2007, and a subsequent event on June 27, 2012, a month after the May 31 event. The common hypothesis for the massive kill suggests that a seiche induced by strong winds caused the upwelling of colder and anoxic hypolimnetic water along the western shores of the lake. Still, this hypothesis has not yet been tested.

The WRF (The Weather Research and Forecasting) atmospheric model was recently coupled with the ocean model MITgcm (MIT general circulation model). The coupled model was named SKRIPS (Scripps–KAUST Regional Integrated Prediction System). The two SKRIPS model components (WRF and MITgcm) are well-tested at high resolution, allowing us to investigate the physical mechanism of the fish-kill event in an interactive system. To test the hypolimnetic water upwelling hypothesis for the massive fish-kill, we have set up and integrated the SKRIPS model for the May 31, 2012, event at a horizontal grid resolution of 400 m², both for the atmospheric and lake component of the model.

In this talk, I will present results from a high-resolution coupled atmosphere-lake regional simulation indicating an upwelling of cold anoxic hypolimnetic water into the surface during the event. The upwelling of cold water is increased close to the shore. The discussion will be supplemented by field data of temperature and oxygen concentrations, collected before, during, and after the fish-kill event. Our simulation results agree with the field observations, adding confidence to the anoxic hypolimnetic water upwelling hypothesis. Such fish-kill events may explain the biblical ‘miraculous catch of fish’ and the ‘miracle of the loaves and fish’. Also, it may provide a possible seasonal time frame (spring) for their occurrence in the past.