Scientists have discovered a possible explanation behind how Jesus performed one of his most famous miracles.
The Bible includes two accounts of Christ turning fishermen’s unsuccessful fishing attempts into massive hauls that fed their communities for weeks.
Known as the ‘miraculous catch of fish’, the miracles were said to have been performed in Israel’s Lake Kinneret where Jesus preached.
Now, a new study has found that a natural phenomenon that occurs at certain times of the year may have played a role.
Researchers at Kinneret Limnological Laboratory in Israel have found that there are much lower levels of oxygen deep in Lake Kinneret’s water basin.
This is because of an increase in phytoplankton blooms which block out the oxygen, causing fish to suffocate to death.
They identified two events in 2012 that saw thousands of dead fish had floated to the surface along 2.4 miles of the the lake shore.
The researchers wrote: ‘[Our study] may explain the appearance of large numbers of easy-to-collect fish close to the shore described in the biblical narratives.’
The Biblical story of Jesus’ miraculous catch of fish could be steeped in reality, researchers found
Lake Kinneret is believed to be the same body of water mentioned in the New Testament, called the Sea of Galilee
Researchers said the theory supports the idea that Jesus and his miracles of pulling over a hundred fish from the sea were real.
However, the study’s revelations has cast doubt about whether Jesus’ actions were really miracles or if it just coincided with the lake’s natural elements.
The Miraculous Catch of Fish occurred on two events and appears in the books of Luke and John – one in 27 AD before he was resurrected and one after his resurrection in 29 AD.
The miracles occurred at Lake Kinneret which is believed to be the Biblical Sea of Galilee that’s mentioned in the New Testament.
In one account, Jesus instructed Simon Peter, a fisherman who hadn’t caught any fish that night, to cast his net into the water once more.
Peter obeyed Jesus and caught so many fish that the nets nearly broke, requiring them to ask another boat to help them bring the fish to shore.
In John 21:11, the Bible described the scene, saying: ‘Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of 153 large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn.’
Jesus again appeared to his disciples after his resurrection in the Book of John and repeated the miracle by directing them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, resulting in another major haul.
Researchers set out to uncover why hundreds of dead fish washed up on shore of Lake Kinneret in 2012. They discovered that a lack of oxygen in the water had caused the fish to suffocate to death
The researchers set out to uncover what could have cause fishermen to easily access thousands of fish.
They placed sensors in the lake to track temperatures in the water column and the direction and speed of wind and the data suggested that the water’s low oxygen levels were driven by strong winds blowing in from the west.
Yael Amitai, a physical limnologist from the Kinneret laboratory, told the Times of Israel: ‘The Sea of Galilee is a stratified lake. The upper layer is warm and oxygenated, while the lower layer is cold and lacks oxygen.’
Lake Kinneret is a warm-monomictic lake meaning the surface temperature never drops below 39 degrees Fahrenheit and will separate into layers of water with varying temperatures because of the difference in the water’s density.
This process, called thermal stratification, occurs twice a year and mixes the warner upper layer with the cooler lower layer of water to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the entire lake.
Within four to six weeks of thermal stratification that occurs in March through April, the Kinneret Lake becomes anoxic, meaning it essentially becomes devoid of any oxygen and is unable to support most aquatic life.
According to the study, zooplanktivorous cyprinid – which is the most abundant fish species in the lake – were primarily found along the lake’s shore in 2012, but a few larger dead fish were also discovered including carp, catfish, tilapia and barbel.
This phenomenon is not uncommon, according to the researchers, who said it had also occurred at Lake Erie and the Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina.
However, it does take place sparingly, with the instance at Lake Kinneret being reported only two other times in April 2007 and the early 1900s. The exact date was not recorded.
The study said that these ‘fish-kill events occur only in years with intense spring phytoplankton blooms.’
Phytoplankton is a microscopic algae that uses sunlight to make its own food, but when a species reproduces quickly, it can produce toxins that create oxygen-depleted dead zones that can kill off the fish.
‘Our study suggests a location and time frame for the biblical miracles near Tabgha, documented in the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish and the Miraculous Catch of Fish,’ the researchers wrote in the paper published in the journal Water Resources Research.
They suggested that the lake’s conditions at the time were similar to what is being seen now and ‘2,000 years ago (when the biblical miracles took place), Lake Kinneret watershed was densely inhabited by agriculturalists numbering about 200,000, which is similar to the present population in the region.’
