The symbolic meaning of seagulls is a lot more deep and involved than you might think. They are experts at recycling and help keep our planet clean. They are messengers of changing times and tides. Seagulls are symbols of communication and community.

It turns out the seagulls are like a barometer. They can sense the small but significant changes in air pressure that indicate a storm is on its way. This amazing ability to tell the weather and move inland for shelter helps seagulls survive storms.

“Seagulls are breaking their connection with the sea. They have previously nested in towns and cities that are on a corridor to the sea, but now we are seeing them in inland counties that are far from the coast.” Most remain in the environment they were born in, although a small number do return to the coast to breed.

The gulls often return to shore and even inland during storms, but the other seabirds remain far from land. Often they can glide on the winds in front of the storm and work their way around to the back side, hundreds of miles and perhaps taking days.

It appears birds have pressure sensitive organs in their ears. But when birds detect low pressure, which is frequently associated with a coming storm, they will often settle down and wait for it to pass. There is some evidence that birds respond to drops in pressure and therefore seek shelter before a storm hits.

Anecdotal evidence abounds of animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake. But many animals with more keen senses are able to feel the P wave seconds before the S wave arrives.

Birds may leave in advance of an approaching storm Research has shown that birds can hear infrasound (ref) and are sensitive to barometric pressure (ref and ref), so they know when a storm is on its way — especially when the storm is as large and as powerful as a hurricane.

During these storms birds will most likely find shelter. If they have a nest or a cavity where they roost they will often return to it and remain there until the storm has passed. You may see several birds huddled together to help keep themselves warm.

Lightning protection made the headlines this week as Paris’s most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower, was struck by multiple bolts of lightning during a storm. According to Meteo France, the average house is struck by lightning once in every 800 years, whereas the Eiffel Tower is struck by lightning 10 times per year.

Jet aircraft can safely fly over thunderstorms only if their flight altitude is well above the turbulent cloud tops. The most intense and turbulent storms are often the tallest storms, so en route flights always seek to go around them.

The short answer is ‘yes’, but there are other considerations. The biggest fear is a direct strike by lightning. When lightning strikes, it often (but not always) hits the tallest thing in the vicinity. We know that water is a good conductor of electricity, so if lightning strikes water it will generate a current.

Lightning can be deadly for anyone in the water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Anyone in the water should get out and find shelter during a thunderstorm, NOAA warned. “Lightning doesn’t strike the ocean as much as land,” NOAA said.

So, when lightning hits the water, the current zips across the surface in all directions. And if you’re swimming anywhere in the vicinity, it’ll probably hit you. But below the surface, most of the electricity is instantly neutralized. So the fish are generally spared.

A: It is definitely NOT safe to swim when lightning is in the area in any type of water. Even if current lightning is a few miles away, lightning can pop up in new parts of the storm very quickly. Salt water conducts electricity, which means that it can easily travel through the water toward you.