Study suggests Jesus's 'miraculous catch of fish' may have had a less-than-miraculous explanation

A multi-institutional team of environmental scientists and physical limnologists has found that there may be a scientific explanation for Jesus' "miraculous catch of fish"—one that does not involve miracles. In their paper published in the journal Water Resources Research, the group describes their study of natural fish die-offs in Lake Kinneret, which is believed to be the Biblical Sea of Galilee mentioned in the Bible.

There are two instances in the New Testament that describe Jesus turning just a few fish into a multitude—one in the book of Luke, the other in the book of John. The events have been described as miracles by Christians for nearly 2,000 years. In this new effort, the research team sought to find out if there might have been another explanation for the sudden rise in the numbers of fish described in such accounts.

The work involved sending temperature sensors and oxygen level measuring devices down into the lake; they also tested wind speed and direction and noted modern historical accounts of fish die-offs. They found short periods of time when winds across the surface of the lake were strong enough to pull oxygen from its depths, leaving little to none for aquatic life.

The result was a sudden die-off, which, to a person on shore or in a boat, looked like a mass number of fish slowly rising to the surface of the lake, allowing them to be easily caught—as was the case in accounts from the Bible.

The researchers note that Lake Kinneret is naturally stratified—it has a cold lower level, with low levels of oxygen and an upper, warmer oxygen-rich layer where the fish live. They found that every now and then, thermal stratification occurs as waters from the two levels mix—the result is too little oxygen for the fish to survive at any level of the lake. They die and float up to the surface.

The research team also found that the types of fish most abundant in the lake during die-offs typically wind up along the shore, where they could be easily collected by a hungry populace. They also found that lake conditions during the time of Jesus were similar to those that lead to modern fish die-offs, suggesting the miracles were merely coincidental events.