The benchmark for cold snaps in Florida is the 2010 freeze<\/a>, which killed manatees, crocodiles, iguanas, thousands of snook and goliath grouper, and caused 50% to 90% of invasive pythons to die in some areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n The recent cold snap had similar temperatures, with overnight lows in the 30s, and it was deadly for many invasive species from the tropics. Wildlife watchers fretted about a repeat of 2010. But some key differences made the freeze less lethal for some cherished native animals.<\/p>\n The most startling element of the 2010 freeze were massive fish kills, when thousands of snook and Goliath grouper, both native to Florida but vulnerable to cold water, perished in the shallows. Snook are one of the state\u2019s most cherished game fish and Goliath grouper populations are still recovering from 20th century decimation due to overfishing and mangrove habitat loss.<\/p>\n Studies<\/a> in Everglades National Park after the freeze showed a 90% drop in juvenile Goliath grouper catches.<\/p>\n Snook die-offs in 2010 were so severe that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took the unusual step of closing the snook season for three years on the west coast<\/a> and until September on the east coast.<\/p>\n Deeper water is more thermally stable, but many snook were caught in the shallows, where water temperatures dropped to below what snook could tolerate<\/a>, around 50 degrees, for at least two days.<\/p>\n This year, biologists and anglers were concerned when they saw the forecast for the Feb. 1 bomb cyclone that spun arctic air our way.<\/p>\n Dead fish started to turn up quickly. \u201cAll the creeks just had tons of deceased tarpon and snook,\u201d said saltwater fishing influencer and content creator Aaron Benzrihem<\/a> after hiking around some of mosquito ponds on Hutchinson Island north of Stuart.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw at least 100 (juvenile) tarpon that day \u2026 and at least a couple dozen snook.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Goliath grouper and snook die-offs were not nearly as bad as 2010 for a few crucial reasons.<\/p>\n Alexis Trotter, who studies snook for the FWC, said that since 2010, snook have moved north, to areas such as Cedar Key in the Big Bend region of Florida. She expected those northern fish to struggle with this year\u2019s cold snap, but was surprised with their resilience.<\/p>\n She said the research team only saw minimal snook die-off this time compared to 2010. \u201cWe did see small kills, but nothing like what we expected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As for Goliath groupers, \u201cnorthern Florida Bay seems like it got hit this time,\u201d said Robert Ellis, a lead Goliath researcher at the FWC. \u201cThey\u2019ve had a few dozen Goliaths that they\u2019ve been able to actually capture in sample, ones that were dead and floating, but generally this one didn\u2019t seem too bad for Goliaths.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellis said that juvenile Goliaths live in shallow water. \u201cThey\u2019re most susceptible when they\u2019re in the juvenile stage and they\u2019re inshore, and much less so when they\u2019re larger and offshore.\u201d Once they move to deeper water they can grow to up to 8 feet long and weigh 800 pounds.<\/p>\n Speed freeze<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about how cold the water is, it\u2019s about how fast the temperature drops, said Trotter. \u201cA lot of the times when we do see fish kills, and I think this is what occurred in some areas this time, it\u2019s less that the temperature reaches a lethal temperature, it\u2019s that the temperature changes so abruptly that reaching that lethal temperature may not even be necessary. That change is so fast that it stuns the animal.\u201d<\/p>\n Trotter said that the 2010 freeze was the first cold snap of that winter season, \u201cSo the fish had not experienced colder temperatures throughout the winter and weren\u2019t prepared, weren\u2019t in safer areas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n By contrast, the 2026 freeze occurred after several other cold snaps had occurred, priming the fish.<\/p>\n Another factor that made 2010 more deadly for snook and Goliath grouper was that it lasted for nearly two weeks, whereas the 2026 freeze was two or three days.<\/p>\n \u2018Crazy\u2019 snook with different genetics<\/p>\n Trotter said that freezes like the 2010 freeze, though brutal, can prompt certain fish to seek new frontiers while others stay put.<\/p>\n \u201cMajor events like the 2010 freeze can cause your crazier individuals, your more robust, adaptable fish (to move).\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome individuals might be more risk-taking, might be more apt to move,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cA lot of times the group that moves in after a big disturbance, like those snook that first showed up (in Cedar Key), they were just a little bit more extroverted, risk-taking, adaptable.\u201d<\/p>\n Trotter said that new research suggests that adventurous snook that headed north to the Cedar Key are now genetically distinct from Florida\u2019s other snook populations.<\/p>\n Another surprise: \u201cSnook in the range-expanding population are slightly more tolerant of cold temperatures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n An arctic blast\u2019s silver lining<\/p>\n Though native species such as snook and Goliath grouper fared better than in 2010, the 2026 freeze took a toll on invasive fish.<\/p>\n After the cold snap, Ben Friedman, an outdoor influencer, took a drive through the Everglades posted videos on social media<\/a> of dozens upon dozens of cold-killed invasive catfish and Mayan cichlids.<\/p>\n According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there are more than 30 nonnative fish species<\/a> living in the larger Everglades\u00a0system, most of them dumped pets. The invasion is so severe that the Miccosukee Tribe holds an annual invasive fish tournament<\/a> to highlight the issue and cull fish, so natives such as largemouth bass and gar have more room to flourish.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Miccosukee Tribe\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Department has reported localized fish kills in areas most impacted by the cold weather,\u201d wrote lead biologist Marcel Bozas. \u201cExotic invasive fish such as the Mayan cichlid, oscar, and African jewel fish were just some of the species most impacted by the cold because of their tropical origin and poor cold tolerance,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThese cold snaps function as a filter to reduce or set back many of the invasive species\u2019 populations.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the freshwater invasive fish die-offs were so large and stinky that they attracted scavengers.<\/p>\n A horde of vultures gathered at a pond in the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, between Orlando and Tampa, to feast on hundreds of floating fish, mostly invasive tilapia, that had died during the sudden cold snap.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see a lot of floating fish. Thousands and thousands of fish,\u201d park visitor Jeff Lash told WPTS Tampa<\/a>. \u201cThis smell \u2014 it just smells like dead fish, but it\u2019s not overpowering.\u201d<\/p>\n Overnight temperatures in Lakeland dropped into the mid-20s and the tilapia, a tropical species, just couldn\u2019t handle it.<\/p>\n Coral victory<\/p>\n Marine biologist Colin Foord runs Coral City Camera<\/a>, an underwater video livestream situated about 10 feet deep on an urban coral reef in Government Cut, Miami Beach.<\/p>\n During the freeze this year he dove at Government Cut and at the natural reefs off Miami Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cI was uncomfortable,\u201d he said about the nippy water temperature, which was between 60 and 63 degrees, \u201cbut I did not see any cold water stress impacting any of the coral species, whether it was endangered staghorn corals, or some of the more basic weedy corals.\u201d<\/p>\n He was surprised by what he saw on the camera livestream, too. \u201cI expected the fish to slow down \u2026 but if you were just looking at the camera you\u2019d have no idea that the water was 63 degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n The camera showed dolphins under a full moon on Feb. 1, the night the cold snap hit, and has since shown manatees, parrot fish, lemon sharks and spotted eagle rays.<\/p>\n Foord said that during the cold snap, the camera was close enough to the inlet to receive a flow of warmer ocean water on the incoming tide. Areas farther into the shallows of Biscayne Bay would be colder, he said.<\/p>\n Foord said he hasn\u2019t seen water this cold in South Florida since 2010, when he was diving in the Keys.<\/p>\n \u201c2010 was a different animal \u2026 that was the single most devastating thing I\u2019ve seen in the marine environment,\u201d he said. \u201cIn 2010 I saw all the corals die in shallow water. It was devastating \u2014 soft corals, stony corals, there was dead fish. It smelled disgusting. Snook and tarpon got hit really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunning snakes<\/p>\n During the 2010 cold snap, hundreds of invasive Burmese pythons died from exposure. It was unclear if this year\u2019s cold snap would have the same deadly impact.<\/p>\n None of the biologists the Sun Sentinel contacted found dead snakes, but cold weather can drive the snakes to bask once the sun comes up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw an uptick in Burmese python removals by our Tribal biologists,\u201d said Bozas. \u201cThey took advantage of the cold weather to find these typically elusive snakes basking in open areas in hopes of collecting the little bit of warmth the sun\u2019s rays would bring.\u201d<\/p>\n On the west coast, biologists with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida have radio trackers implanted in 40 male pythons in the wilderness east of Naples. \u201cAll of our pythons survived the cold snap and most took shelter in underground refugia,\u201d lead biologist Ian Bartoszek said in a text message.<\/p>\n In years past, some of the Conservancy\u2019s snakes have been attacked during cold snaps, presumably by native predators such as bobcats<\/a>, who may have taken advantage of the snakes being lethargic.<\/p>\n There are 50 professional python hunters employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The FWC said in an email that their hunters caught 2.1 times as many snakes in the week following the cold snap compared to the week leading up to it \u2013 a possible sign that basking behavior helped lead to more snake captures.<\/p>\n Lucky<\/p>\n Since 2010, FWC biologists have learned a great deal about how Florida\u2019s wildlife, particularly the coveted snook and Goliath grouper, deal with arctic blasts.<\/p>\n Trotter said that the duration matters. Three days of freezing temperatures can spike mortality. The rate of change \u2014 how fast the cold front hits and drops temperature \u2014 also matters.<\/p>\n Thirdly, the water temperatures need to reach the lethal temperatures associated with each species. \u201cYou sort of have to combine all three of them,\u201d she said, \u201cAnd this winter I think we got lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Kearney covers the environment, the outdoors and tropical weather. He can be reached at\u00a0bkearney@sunsentinel.com<\/a>. Follow him on Instagram\u00a0@billkearney<\/a>\u00a0or on X\u00a0@billkearney6<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Atlantic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tfl-z-goliath-grouper-getty-03.jpg\")
Adult Goliath grouper, like this one swimming near Boynton Beach, Florida, are less vulnerable to cold snaps than younger fish that live in shallow estuaries. (Jesus Olarte\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SnookBill3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tfl-l-invasive-jeff-corwin-02_d43dfc.jpg\")
A wildlife officer sifts through dozens of species of nonnative fish caught in the Miccosukee Tribe’s 5th Annual Removal of the Swamp Invaders Fishing Tournament. (Bill Kearney\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tfl-l-invasive-jeff-corwin-05.jpg\")
An invasive oscar caught during the Swamp Invaders Fishing Tournament presented by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Tanya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TFL-L-python-release-03.jpg\")
Professional python hunters Tanya Toutant, left, and Donna Kalil pose with a large female Burmese python that they both captured and released for a telemetry study conducted by the University of Florida. (Bill Kearney\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n