Miguel Wattson is charging up the Christmas spirit.
Miguel, of course, is an electric eel housed at the Tennessee Aquarium, who is positively merry.
So merry, in fact, his electric jolts are turning on the festive lights at the aquarium’s Christmas tree.
“The rapid, dim blinking of the lights is caused by the constant, low-voltage blips of electricity he releases when he’s trying to find food,” Aquarist Kimberly Hurt said in a statement.
“The bigger flashes are caused by the higher voltage shocks he emits when he’s eating or excited,” she added.
ICYMI, here’s a video of yours truly attempting to use my discharges to power the lights on a Christmas tree. (SPOILER ALERT ::: Of course I pull it off. My phenomenal cosmic — well, bio-electric — power is basically limitless.) pic.twitter.com/g4r5JPHWoH
— Miguel Wattson TNAQ (@EelectricMiguel) December 2, 2019
Aquarists hope it “sparks a new love and appreciation” for the freshwater fish.
Miguel also has a Twitter account with tweets also triggered by jolts of electricity.
Miguel Wattson, an eel at @TNAquarium, is not only powering holiday lights outside of his tank, but also has his own Twitter page @EelectricMiguel. Thanks to coding by @ttuicube, Miguel can post his own Tweets! #WeAreTNTech #TechisTN
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/a1bm2dxnZp pic.twitter.com/2aaZujoIaG
— Tennessee Tech (@tennesseetech) December 7, 2019
But back to the tree.
“The intensity of the lights reflects the strength of my discharges as detected by sensors in my tank,” the critter explained online.
The program, on until Dec. 24, is called “shocking around the Christmas tree.”
“Whenever Miguel discharges electricity, sensors in the water deliver the charge to a set of speakers,” Joey Turnipseed, the Aquarium’s audio visual production specialist, said in a statement. “The speakers convert the discharge into the sound you hear and the festively flashing lights.”
Yule definitely love it.
OK, so full disclosure, the intensity of the lights reflects the strength of my discharges as detected by sensors in my tank. Still r-eel-y cool, though, don’tcha think?
— Miguel Wattson TNAQ (@EelectricMiguel) December 2, 2019
But please don’t ask Santa for one.
“The best way to see an Electric Eel lighting up a Christmas Tree is at the Tennessee Aquarium,” the facility added, “but just as a gentle reminder, even though they would fit in one nicely, electric eels do not make good stocking stuffers.”
Photos Tennessee Aquarium
