Photographer Jonathan Nimerfroh found himself staring at an ocean full of Slurpee. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean looked like it due to the unusually cold temperatures that were making it freeze. Lakes freeze every year, but oceans freezing is a rare sight.
The photographer/surfer/ocean enthusiast set out to capture the beauty of this rare event. While the partially-frozen waves churned and hit the shore, they appeared to be made out of something thicker than water. Jonathan describes the sight as follows, “The wind was howling from the southwest which would typically make rough or choppy conditions, not so good for surfing. But since the surface of the sea was frozen slush, the wind did not change the shape. They were perfect dreamy slush waves.” The pictures below show this bizarre phenomenon.
They were a strange, thick consistency.
His photo series “Slurpee Waves” is breathtaking.
The unusual look of the waves comes from the shifts in the water and air temperature.
When he took these photos, the temperature in Nantucket was 19°F.
In “Stay Wild Magazine,” he talked about the day he took the photos: “Just been super cold here. The harbor to the mainland is frozen solid … The day after I took these it actually froze up the shoreline for 200 yards out.”
Jonathan is “obsessed with the ocean,” and, in addition to his sea-centric photography, is an avid surfer.
Check out this video to see the Slurpee waves in action:
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