A recent study proposes a natural explanation for the Bible’s account of Jesus’s “miraculous catch of fish” in Lake Kinneret, Israel.

The Bible describes two instances of this miracle, one before Jesus’s resurrection and one after, in which he directed fishermen to cast their nets again, resulting in abundant hauls.

Scientists at Israel’s Kinneret Limnological Laboratory suggest that seasonal changes in the lake could have created the right conditions for this event.

During certain times of the year, low-oxygen zones form in the lake, forcing fish into shallow waters where they’re easier to catch. This phenomenon, known as a “fish-kill” event, is driven by strong winds, temperature shifts, and phytoplankton blooms, which all cause fish to gather near the surface.

According to Yael Amitai, a physical limnologist from the Kinneret laboratory, the Sea of Galilee is a "stratified lake".

"The upper layer is warm and oxygenated, while the lower layer is cold and lacks oxygen,” he continued. 

Researchers believe these environmental patterns may have coincided with the events described in the Gospels of Luke and John, which recount the miracles as occurring in 27 AD and 29 AD.

The study, published in Water Resources Research, notes similar fish-kill events were observed in Lake Kinneret in 2007 and 2012, with thousands of dead fish along the shorelines.

The researchers explained: “[Our study] may explain the appearance of large numbers of easy-to-collect fish close to the shore described in the biblical narratives.”

The study also notes that these patterns have been seen in other bodies of water, including Lake Erie and the Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina.

The researchers concluded: “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.”