# Electric eels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 28, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954 "2017-11-28T14:54:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/1 "2017-11-28T14:54:56Z")
This week’s column: [Can we harvest electricity from electric eels? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3369/can-we-harvest-electricity-from-electric-eels) I’ve been asked how do electric eels keep from shocking one another? And I have to admit, I have no clue. (What I don’t know about electric eels is a lot.) Though I’m intrigued by the idea of lighting my Christmas tree with some, how many would it take for an average Christmas tree? Would it be more if you had a really busy light display? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/2 "2017-11-28T15:15:31Z")
This might help. - …But eels live in water, which provides additional outlets for the current. They thus generate a larger voltage, but a divided, and therefore diminished, current. …\* > **[How do electric eels generate a voltage and why do they not get shocked in...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-electric-eels-gene/)** > > Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/3 "2017-11-28T15:31:32Z")
So when eels meet it’s a shocking experience? 😃 Thanks for the information, I truly did not know. The world is an amazing place sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/4 "2017-11-28T23:12:33Z")
Personally, I’m just disappointed that when he mentioned other dangerous critters in the Amazon, he didn’t include a callback to the candiru. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/5 "2017-11-28T23:22:13Z")
I didn’t really dig into the article but I’m getting the idea that to utilize electric eels for power generation we’ll need much bigger eels. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/6 "2017-11-29T16:52:29Z")
“We got to get a bigger eel!” I like that. So how many/how much would it take to power your average Christmas tree? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/7 "2017-11-29T17:25:38Z")
Electric eels are not like a battery or live wires that you accidentally touch and get shocked. Imagine if, for self-protection, you had electrodes right in the palm of your right hand, and an on/off switch in your left pocket. How would you avoid shocking everyone you shook hands with? Easy, you just don’t hit the switch. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/8 "2017-11-29T22:40:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I didn’t really dig into the article but I’m getting the idea that to utilize electric eels for power generation we’ll need much bigger eels. Sounds like a job for genetic engineering. (And we might get a 1950s-style SF movie out of the deal, besides.) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/9 "2017-11-30T00:21:53Z")
“The Eel That Lit Up Pittsburgh.” Or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/10 "2017-11-30T02:46:10Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > This might help. > > - > > …But eels live in water, which provides additional outlets for the current. They thus generate a larger voltage, but a divided, and therefore diminished, current. …\* > > [How do electric eels generate a voltage and why do they not get shocked in the process? | Scientific American](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-electric-eels-gene/) And from the same article: > [@](#): > > The electric eel generates large electric currents That’s not eel: that’s tripe. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/11 "2017-11-30T03:05:17Z")
Dangit, what’s with periodicals not putting dates on their web articles? I’ve known for a while now that Scientific American’s quality has been seriously declining, and wanted to see how recent that low-quality article was. Having additional outlets for current would mean lower voltages and higher currents, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/12 "2017-11-30T21:10:59Z")
This was pretty interesting. [Big & Deadly ELECTRIC EELS - Amazon River Monsters - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GomeIaCmQPw) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/13 "2017-11-30T22:41:25Z")
**Never-mind all this rubbish!** All true Dopers want an answer to the real question in the back of our minds: To make our _Official Cecil Adams_ Electric Hovercraft go, how many eels must we fill it with? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/14 "2017-12-01T01:18:03Z")
Obviously, it must be completely full. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/15 "2017-12-01T01:53:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Dangit, what’s with periodicals not putting dates on their web articles? I’ve known for a while now that Scientific American’s quality has been seriously declining, and wanted to see how recent that low-quality article was. Click on “rights and permissions”: > [@](#): > > Title: How do electric eels generate a voltage and why do they not get shocked in the process? > Publication: Scientific American > Publisher: Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. > Date: Dec 5, 2005 > Copyright 2005 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-eels/802954/16 "2017-12-07T00:43:06Z")
**Melbourne** , “large” currents vs. “diminished” currents is relative. Electric eels create a large current compared to other animals, who create microcurrents. Whereas the diminished current is with respect to the current generated dissipating outward in the water instead of discharging to one point of contact. **Chronos** , I think what the article is saying is that the eel generates a large voltage, but the current is discharged from all around the body, so the eel doesn’t get a large jolt in one spot, but the prey or a predator would.