Nearly 7,000 Hit Ocean At Seaside Heights Polar Bear Plunge: Photos, Video

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — They came in tutus and penguin suits. They dressed as superheros and bananas. They wore footie pajamas, T-shirts, shorts and bikinis and even mankinis (yes, you read that correctly).

And in wave after wave, they hit the waves, some going in just long enough to get wet and come screaming back out, others standing on a sandbar, swaying flags held high, singing and chanting and laughing ... and all with one goal: to raise funds for the Special Olympics New Jersey, which serves more than 25,000 special needs athletes.

Special Olympics New Jersey officials announced the final number was 6,884 plungers with $1,875,000 raised in donations.

Plungers were treated to an unseasonably warm day, with a temperature of 54 degrees announced shortly before they rushed into the water. The water, however, was cold: 40 degrees, and the temperature difference resulting in a fog that was so thick the water couldn't be seen from the boardwalk, and participants at the far end could not see Casino Pier and the new rides that have been constructed.

"It was really cold three years ago, when I did this for the first time," said Jose Gonzales, who drove down from Weehawken with his girlfriend to participate. That year the temperature was below freezing, he said. "I was 15 minutes up the Parkway before I could feel my feet."

The 40-degree water was cold enough to turn exposed skin red, whether it was the cheeks of the wetsuit-encased rescue divers from the Berkeley Township Underwater Search and Rescue Squad or the cheeks of backside of the mankini-wearing participants who emerged from the water.

Take a look at some of the sights and sounds from the event.

Photos and video by Karen Wall