OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. (WSVN) — A North Carolina animal park is showing how alligators survive in frozen waters, by keeping their nostrils above the surface.
The Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach posted a series of YouTube videos, explaining how their rescued reptiles survive in cold temperatures.
The videos show the snouts of several gators poking above the surface of water that appears to have frozen over during the recent winter storm that impacted much of the East Coast.
Park Manager George Howard told Inside Edition that the gators instinctively know when the water is about to freeze, so they stick their noses out above the water in order to breathe and wait for the ice to thaw.
When the water or air temperature falls too low for them to be active, Howard says alligators go into a hibernation-type state called brumation, where they lower their body temperatures and metabolisms in order to survive the cold.
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