MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican environmental authorities said Thursday that 292 sea turtles found dead on the country's southern Pacific coast since Christmas died as a result of a red tide algae bloom.

Volunteers, researchers and authorities managed to save 27 of the Pacific Green sea turtles, which had suffered paralysis.

Turtles found in and around the coastal resort of Huatulco had been unable to breathe properly or keep their heads up.

Volunteers kept some of them from asphyxiating by keeping them on land wrapped in wet blankets, or in shallow tubs of water with tiny life jackets.

The office for environmental protection said Thursday that autopsies showed the turtles had eaten sea salps, gelatinous blobs that may have accumulated the algae toxins.