Thousands of sea turtles have been left cold-stunned by winter weather in Texas the past several days.
An intense arctic blast and wintry weather have crippled the Deep South for the better part of a week. It's responsible for over a dozen deaths and millions being without power.
A story that may have flown under the radar as a result of this rare bitter-cold blast is the thousands of sea turtles that have been cold-stunned by this prolonged cold snap.
Sea turtles become cold-stunned when the water they're in drops below 50 degrees. When their heart rate falls, they become lethargic and can even go into hypothermic shock. When this happens, their bodies will float comatose above water and puts them at risk for drowning, predators, and boats.
Under normal circumstances, cold-stunned turtles would recover in large heated tanks like in the photo above, but the widespread power outages make that method difficult.
While it's too early to measure now, this cold-stunning event could end up being worse than the one that took place between Dec. 2017 and Jan. 2018. More than 3,500 sea turtles were rescued, which is the most on record in Texas.