An unexpected winter storm hit Texas, blanketing the state in snow and ice and leaving many inhabitants without power or water for many days.

The cold weather had an influence not just on people, but also on wildlife, particularly sea turtles.

Unfortunately, over 9,000 marine turtles were discovered cold-stunned in the waters off the coast. Thousands of people required emergency medical care, and many more perished.

Nearly 5,000 sea turtles were saved because to the efforts of many charitable sea turtle rehabilitation centers and the Texas Game Wardens of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

K9s 4 Conservation’s Saul nicknamed Salsa, a German Shepherd trained detection dog, was also on the site to assist the volunteers in helping the turtles.

Since the severe weather came, Saul has used his excellent sense of smell to look out cold-stunned sea turtles in the water, saving the lives of dozens of turtles.

The sea turtle population on South Padre Island “would have been destroyed by the cold, wiping out four decades of conservation work to protect the region’s fragile turtles, which also face hazards from boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear,” according to National Geographic.