Evening Standard :
The icy weather pattern has also left Brits’ travel plans in tatters due to a series of flight cancellations – with all flights into JFK suspended for hours due to the adverse conditions.
Conservationists have warned the animals are being trapped as they become stranded in shallow waters while seeking warmer areas off the east coast of America. Distressing images posted by the Atlantic White Shark conservation group show sharks washed up on beaches covered in ice and snow as the extreme cold snap continues. Alongside images of several sharks on a beach in Cape Cod, the group wrote on Facebook: “Both of these male sharks were nearly the same size and likely stranded due to cold shock.”
Other experts have also linked the deaths of thresher sharks washing up on beaches or in shallow waters to the cold conditions. Greg Skomal, a scientist from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, told the New York Times: “If you’ve got cold air, that’ll freeze their gills up very quickly.
“Those gill filaments are very sensitive and it wouldn’t take long for the shark to die.” Speaking to the website Boston.com, he added: “The rapid cooling associated with this cold snap and water temps is forcing the sharks to move south at a faster pace, and the landmass of Cape Cod is contributing to them getting stranded in shallow water.”
It comes as a massive winter storm known as a “bomb cyclone” killed at least 17 people and wreaked havoc across the East Coast of the US, as well as in usually mild southern states. In Florida, shocked residents also reported iguanas falling from trees in a ‘frozen’ state, also apparently due to the freak cold.
Green iguanas, like all reptiles, are coldblooded animals, so they become immobile when the temperature falls to a certain level, said Kristen Sommers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, they become sluggish. Under 40 degrees, their blood stops moving as much, Sommers told the Washington Post. They like to sit in trees, and “it’s become cold enough that they fall out.”
The freezing conditions are expected to continue into the weekend, and have caused chaos in recent days as they grounded thousands of flights. Flights from New York’s John F Kennedy airport were due to resume at 12pm today after being suspended for up to 16 hours. Meteorologists have said parts of the US could experience their lowest temperatures on record over the course of Friday and Saturday. Weather warnings are in place across a huge swathe of the US, from Maine to Georgia. “Heavy snowfall rates will spread northward across NH and through southern/central ME through early this evening,” said the National Weather Service.
“In addition to heavy snowfall rates, the intensifying storm will result in strengthening winds, producing blizzard conditions for coastal regions of New England.” Forecasters have also warned that hurricane force winds of up to 60mph are to batter much of the north-eastern coastline. The storm has resulted in thousands of cancelled flights at major airports such as Boston’s Logan International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and disrupted the schedules at regional airports. Amtrak planned to operate a modified schedule between New York and Boston on Thursday. Northeast Regional Service between Washington, DC, and Newport News/Norfolk, Virginia, was cancelled for Thursday.
The icy weather pattern has also left Brits’ travel plans in tatters due to a series of flight cancellations – with all flights into JFK suspended for hours due to the adverse conditions.
Conservationists have warned the animals are being trapped as they become stranded in shallow waters while seeking warmer areas off the east coast of America. Distressing images posted by the Atlantic White Shark conservation group show sharks washed up on beaches covered in ice and snow as the extreme cold snap continues. Alongside images of several sharks on a beach in Cape Cod, the group wrote on Facebook: “Both of these male sharks were nearly the same size and likely stranded due to cold shock.”
Other experts have also linked the deaths of thresher sharks washing up on beaches or in shallow waters to the cold conditions. Greg Skomal, a scientist from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, told the New York Times: “If you’ve got cold air, that’ll freeze their gills up very quickly.
“Those gill filaments are very sensitive and it wouldn’t take long for the shark to die.” Speaking to the website Boston.com, he added: “The rapid cooling associated with this cold snap and water temps is forcing the sharks to move south at a faster pace, and the landmass of Cape Cod is contributing to them getting stranded in shallow water.”
It comes as a massive winter storm known as a “bomb cyclone” killed at least 17 people and wreaked havoc across the East Coast of the US, as well as in usually mild southern states. In Florida, shocked residents also reported iguanas falling from trees in a ‘frozen’ state, also apparently due to the freak cold.
Green iguanas, like all reptiles, are coldblooded animals, so they become immobile when the temperature falls to a certain level, said Kristen Sommers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Under 50 degrees Fahrenheit, they become sluggish. Under 40 degrees, their blood stops moving as much, Sommers told the Washington Post. They like to sit in trees, and “it’s become cold enough that they fall out.”
The freezing conditions are expected to continue into the weekend, and have caused chaos in recent days as they grounded thousands of flights. Flights from New York’s John F Kennedy airport were due to resume at 12pm today after being suspended for up to 16 hours. Meteorologists have said parts of the US could experience their lowest temperatures on record over the course of Friday and Saturday. Weather warnings are in place across a huge swathe of the US, from Maine to Georgia. “Heavy snowfall rates will spread northward across NH and through southern/central ME through early this evening,” said the National Weather Service.
“In addition to heavy snowfall rates, the intensifying storm will result in strengthening winds, producing blizzard conditions for coastal regions of New England.” Forecasters have also warned that hurricane force winds of up to 60mph are to batter much of the north-eastern coastline. The storm has resulted in thousands of cancelled flights at major airports such as Boston’s Logan International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and disrupted the schedules at regional airports. Amtrak planned to operate a modified schedule between New York and Boston on Thursday. Northeast Regional Service between Washington, DC, and Newport News/Norfolk, Virginia, was cancelled for Thursday.
