Alligators frozen in swamp ice for days survived. Here’s how.

A bizarre video that surfaced recently out of North Carolina showed what appeared to be frozen alligators sticking their noses out of a frozen swamp pong.

While it looked like a creepy alligator graveyard, it was quite the opposite.

The American alligators in Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach were showing off a hibernation-like process called brumation to survive the unusually cold temperatures created by last week’s “bomb cyclone,” the massive winter storm that hit the eastern U.S. and brought record lows.

The American alligators survived the freeze by staying in the water with their snouts sticking out. Park officials wrote that the cold-blooded gators can endure temperatures by slowing their metabolisms during brumation.

The gators finally got the chance to thaw out and sunning themselves after temperatures rose above freezing by Tuesday.

This story was originally published January 11, 2018 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Alligators frozen in swamp ice for days survived. Here’s how.."