A handout photo made available by the Texas Game Wardens of the Texas Parks and Wildlife department showing some of the 141 sea turtles rescued from the frigid waters of the Brownsville Ship Channel and surrounding bays, abroad the PV Murchison, in Texas, USA.
Thousands of sea turtles unused to the plunge in temperatures have been washing up on the beaches of South Padre Island, off the southern coast of Texas. Volunteers have brought some 4,700 of them to a convention centre, where they are being kept in tubs and enclosures before they can be released when the water is warmer.
Sea turtles, a cold-blooded reptile, become cold stunned and can’t swim when the water temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius.
A winter storm has brought historic cold weather across the United States.
Temperature reached -18 degrees Celsius earlier in the week in Texas.
Via EPA-EFE/TEXAS GAME WARDENS
