Why the dead fish float?

Other animals that die in the water often sink, particularly the fish quickly float to the surface. A special chemical mechanism made them so.

Explain the cause of dead fish floating on the water

The fish is noticeably heavier than the surrounding water environment. They almost have a neutral buoyancy force , meaning that the weight makes it sink to balance with the force inside the body, causing the animal to float. It also means that the fish does not have to make too much effort to help me rise from the water or dive to the bottom.

The deeper you go under the water, the more pressure will increase. Most fish resist this change by using a small bag in the body called a bubble or air bubble . Water enters the fish's mouth and comes out through the gills. At the gills, oxygen is exchanged and transferred to the bloodstream by hemoglobin. Hemoglobin also releases that oxygen into the bubble.

The amount of oxygen in the bubble determines the fish's buoyancy. If the fish begins to sink, oxygen will be absorbed into the bubble. If he emerges too high, the gas will be diffused into the blood and escaped through the gills .

Normally, blue bubbles help animals keep balance in the water. When the fish died, its entire abdomen, intestines and bubbles were filled with air, causing the animal to emerge.

Mark Boriek, a biologist at the New Jersey State Department of Fisheries and Nature, explains this process "is not an active effort of the fish, but a chemical reaction to the change of pressure." around the animal ".

When a fish dies, oxygen is still in its bubble . In addition, the decomposition process produces new gases. " The fish is like a sealed box, when it decomposes, the gas will fill the body ," Boriek said. Soon, the abdomen became a balloon and the fish floated to the surface. Heavy fish are mostly caused by bones and muscles on both sides of the spine, so when the balloon rises, the fish tends to fall sideways.

Not always dead fish float to the surface immediately. They may lie on the bottom until the air accumulates in the body.