Can you be killed by an electric eel?

0 votes
asked Dec 20, 2020 in Other- Pets by MSleatha (540 points)
Can you be killed by an electric eel?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Nov 21, 2021 by ww2mm (730 points)
Yes you can be killed by an electric eel.

If an electric eel sends it's voltage at you and shocks you then you could easily die from the high voltage of 600 Volts that the electric eel produces.

Also factoring in the water you'd be in with the electric eel that makes the shock from an electric eel even more dangerous.

Electric eels do really have electricity inside of them.

The way the electric eel produces electricity is through an array of battery like cells which are known as electrolytes.

Electric eels can produce a powerful electric shock and voltage of up to 600 Volts.

Using a combination of its three electric organs, electric eels can generate powerful or weak electrical discharges.

Powerful discharges come from the Hunter's and Main organ and are used to defend against predators or stun potential prey.

Electric fish can either emit an electric organ discharge (EOD), in pulses, or in a wave-like (sinusoidal) manner.

Furthermore, they can either produce DC, direct current (monophasic) or AC, alternating current (biphasic).

The reason the eel does not shock itself is that the electrical shock is distributed by its whole body, which is roughly the size of an adult man's arm.

To make muscles in an arm to spasm you need 200 milliamps of current flowing for a minimum of 50 milliseconds.

Electric eels can release between 10 to 850 volts, with one big jolt able to light up to a 40-watt DC light bulb.

Apart from being fished by humans, electric eels have no known predators.

They are too dangerous for other species to go after, regardless of water levels.

If the water is shallow, there's a chance that large land mammals will go after them, but this threat is often deterred with a shock.

98,443 questions

94,802 answers

1,270 comments

6,992,777 users

...