this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025

535 points (98.2% liked)

Mildly Interesting

20333 readers

742 users here now

This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.

This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?

Just post some stuff and don't spam.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

535

In 2016, over 300 wild reindeer were killed by a single lightning strike on the Hardangervidda plateau in Norway (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

80 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 100 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Electrocuted, basically:

“Lightning does not strike a point, it strikes an area,” said John Jensenius, a lightning safety specialist with the National Weather Service. “The physical flash you see strikes a point, but that lightning is radiating out as ground current and it’s very deadly.”

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

That's interesting. I have seen lightning split a tree and then follow wires into a house blowing out the wall all long the path of the wires. I have also seen it lift up decking when following underground wires.

But if lightning hits with no lightning rod and ground is equally everywhere I guess I could imagine this result.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

and ground is equally everywhere

You make an interesting point; Lapland is known for being relatively flat, often stony and pretty much treeless. I'm sure that contributed to an increased radius.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Small correction: this was in southwestern Norway; Lapland is in the far north of Finland.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Oh, sorry I just assumed Lapland when I saw reindeer.

Lapland - or Sápmi to be precise, but that's an even larger area - is in the North of Finland, Sweden and Norway.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

When you correct people, double-check that you're correct.
I spent several weeks in Lapland, and I was nowhere close to Finland at any point

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Lapland is in Finland. Hardangervidda is in Norway. It is flat as well though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Oh, sorry I just assumed Lapland when I saw reindeer.

Lapland - or Sápmi to be precise, but that's an even larger area - is in the North of Finland, Sweden and Norway.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

I read somewhere that the induced electical field shift near a lightning strike is - while orders of magnitude calmer than the strike itself - still powerful enough to burn, maim and kill.

I think it's what Wikipedia calls "side splash" in the article on lightning injury?

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thank you, I didn't know that.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Part of the problem is that we have two feet. When lightning strikes the ground nearby, it creates a difference in electric potential between the foot that's closest to the impact point and the more distant one. If that potential is great enough, then an electric currect can jump through one's shoe, go up into the body then down the other leg and back to ground.

Laying down only increases the surface area in contact with the ground, so the best thing to do is get inside.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Can I just stand on one foot then?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Feet have non-zero surface area so there's still room for an electric potential between the near and far side of the foot. It'd be smaller so that isn't an entirely terrible idea, but it is by no means foolproof.

[–] kewko 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think as long as it doesn't pass through your heart,you'll be fine with some cooked flesh

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 week ago

Poor creatures. That’s Norway to go.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Imagine in prehistoric times you and your posse are stalking a herd of those when all of a sudden ZAP and they just lie there medium rare

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago

...along with you and your posse

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

This Practical Engineering video explains the concepts behind how this happened

TLDR: The electricity is trying to flow through the Earth, but a reindeer is a better conductor, so it flows up into the nearest leg and down out the furthest leg. If they were standing on one foot they might've been ok

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Don't they have four legs? The day I see a reindeer sitting on one leg I'm getting glasses

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yes, a reindeer standing on one leg would be unusual, and it's the only way they could've survived this 😂

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 week ago

Oh deer

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's what they get for never letting poor Rudolph join in any of their reindeer games

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] ironhydroxide 20 points 1 week ago

Thor got drunk and decided he needed a steak

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's what they want you to think.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

The Night Santa Went Crazy

[–] TriflingToad 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

how does lightning work? I've seen videos of people being struck like 5 times and they are fine with some scars and minor nerve trauma. What causes that person to be ok, but 300 reindeer just die?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You get a circular voltage gradient away from the strike spot. A human with their two legs doesn't spread along that as far as a deer's four legs do, so they catch more voltage drop across that, which also runs through their body (along their heart etc). It just depends a lot on how and where a body is affected by electricity.

[–] TriflingToad 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

that's a good explanation thank you

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Also, when the lighting struck, it was probably not from a clear sky. And reindeer can huddle. So if they're all pretty much already touching each other...

Or even if they're not huddled, they have a sort of defense mechanism where they just running in circles when threatened.

https://www.livescience.com/64778-vikings-reindeer-cyclone.html

So I imagine a thunderstorm might elicit that response. It's just a guess though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just keep watching this. It’s fascinating to see how the “eye” of the herd forms, strengthens, and moves. The individual actions of dozens, if not hundreds, of reindeer coalesce into the same pattern as a hurricane… Fucking beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

You're welcome.

Ever seen murmurations?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Damnit Thor

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He does love murder

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

Lightning is one of those things that makes it easy to see why people invented Gods to explain the phenomena.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

What kind of ritual were they doing

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week ago

The one that seals the elder Gods into a soul cage for 1000 years.

Sadly, the humans will never understand the necessity and impact of the caribou's sacrifice.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

had this happened 2000 years ago a local village would be absolutely losing their SHIT.

look at all that fucking MEAT
god has blessed us with a bountiful harvest
did you see all that fucking MEAT?!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't think they would go near that.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Hard to know.

Could go either way.

I can certainly imagine people avoiding it because of implied danger.

... but I can also imagine people evaluating it and concluding that "they don't look sick, and they taste fine".

I guess the decision depends on how hungry you are.

I think it's important to point out that anyone making this decision was probably using the herd as a primary source of food...it's pretty clearly a sign that you should hit the road.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Way back there weren't any settlements, only nomadic tribes. They'd loose their shit alright. "Oh no, our transport and future food resources!"

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

wizards

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Incidentally the plateau is a great hiking spot, it's obviously beautiful, not particularly overrun (compared to the Alps it's almost comically empty), there are reasonably many dnt huts - typically self service -, and free camping is explicitly allowed in Norway.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They turned it into a study of how the rotting carcasses impact the environment!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

⚡ SMITED ⚡

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My god the smell

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Oh deer...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

mildly horrifying

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

How many survived? How big was this herd? That's pretty insane, no matter how you cut it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Here's a good post-event article.

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments