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This is the terrifying moment a US wildlife expert was ‘struck by lightning’ in the Florida Everglades.
Forrest Galante, 35, was filming a promo for his YouTube channel in Everglades City last week when thunder rumbled and lightning struck.
He said, “While I’m here in a place like this, in a remote swamp, where thunder roars and alligators roam, there are a few things I absolutely cannot live without. »
He says he can’t do without his GPS just as a huge orange lightning bolt crashes through the trees behind him.
Galante then leans out of the water saying, “I got hit.” The cameraman also steps back and records footage of the Everglades after the strike.
As Galante goes on to say that he can do without his GPS, he goes to his watch and is viciously interrupted by a huge orange lightning bolt as it strikes through the trees behind him and reflects off the water.
In an instant reaction, Galante jumps and ducks just before emerging from the water and saying, “I got hit,” as the cameraman also steps back and blurry images of the Everglades fill the footage.
‘I have felt it. Yeah, I was touched. It hurts, yeah, it just hurts,” Galante told his team.
As the camera faces the debris-filled sandy ground, the wildlife expert says, “I’m fine,” while the others with him wonder if this was all caught on camera.
That same day, Discovery Chanel host Galante, wildlife biologist and author, sat down and posted a video on his YouTube and explains the incident.
‘Wow, what a day. So today was supposed to be an easy day. We’re here in South Florida filming a bunch of different content, and one of the things we decided to do today was go out to the swamp area and film some content for Garmin. said Galante.
Garmin delivers innovative GPS technology to the sports and fitness, outdoor, automotive and aviation markets.
He admits that towards the end of the day the weather was starting to get dark, as the rain started to fall and he heard thunder cracking in the distance.
“You know, it’s Florida. It’s raining here. There’s lightning and thunder all the time,” Galante said.
He then says that Mitch, a member of his crew, was reluctant to stay out in the elements as the weather intensified.
As the video pans to Mitch, Galante says, “Mitch says ‘I don’t think so, man, like that thunder is pretty serious.’ You know, Mitch lives here in Florida and I live in Southern California, where we never get rain.
That same day, Galante sat down and posted a video on his YouTube and explained what happened.
Mitch, a member of Galante’s crew, didn’t think going in the water during a storm was the right decision, but Galante nonchalantly brushed him off and did it anyway.
He then says that at that point his response was “Shut up Mitch, it’s okay”, while admitting that this has always been their working dynamic.
Galante says he hasn’t seen the flash since he was on camera, but he felt his legs and butt seize up as he was “paralyzed for a split second.”
“I realize, only by looking at the images, that I have just received a lightning strike 15 feet behind me, which, through the super conductive water, has just shot me in the legs, in the waist, in my heart and in my mouth actually,” Galante said.
He adds that Mitch also felt the electric current pass through him because he had only one foot in the water and fell back after the impact.
“It hurt my chest more than anything else,” Mitch says. He also adds that he immediately had a taste of aluminum in his mouth following the blow.
Galante is a Discovery Channel host, six-time world record spear fisherman, wildlife biologist and author
At the time of the strike, Galante was filming a promotional video for Garmin as it introduced its new Epix Pro GPS watch.
Galante said he hadn’t seen the flash since he was on camera, but he felt his legs and butt seize up as he was “paralyzed for a split second.”
According to National geographic: “Lightning is extremely hot: a lightning bolt can heat the air around it to temperatures five times higher than the surface of the sun.”
Water is a conductor of lighting because most electrical discharges occur on the surface of water.
Fish and boats are most commonly affected by lightning in water, but fish are safer than humans in water and boats can be equipped with lightning rods.
The lightning rods prevent the lightning from hitting the ship and instead direct it toward the water.
BBC News reported that NASA research “shows that lightning is more likely to strike land than sea and that it is rare for impacts to occur in deep ocean areas.” Waters just offshore are more often affected.
Wildlife Expert Struck by Lightning in Terrifying Encounter during Florida Everglades Promo Video