Waves Frozen in Place-Fiction!

Pictures of Frozen Waves-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
The email comes with pictures that are described as waves that have frozen in place because of freezing temperatures. (Pictures below.)

The Truth:
There are a couple of versions of this eRumor. One says the pictures are from Antarctica. Another says the pictures are of Lake Huron in Michigan. Both claim that the temperature was so cold that the waves froze in midair.

In reality, the pictures were taken by a researcher from the University of New South Wales in Australia named Tony Travouillon. He told TruthOrFiction.com that the pictures were snapped in Antarctica near a French research station called Dumont D'Urville.

He posted the pictures on his website along with other photos from when he was working at a base called Dome C in the Antarctic where he's part of a research project with Cal Tech in Pasadena, California. Dome C is a research site that is more than 10,000 feet above sea level. It's one of the coldest places on earth with an average temperature of -54 degrees centigrade.

The pictures are not of ocean waves frozen in midair. They are large ice formations that have been shaped over a period of time. Travouillon calls them "blue icebergs"

Updated 4/1/08

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Version #1

Michigan has had the coldest winter in decades. Water expands to freeze, and at Macinaw City the water in Lake Huron below the surface ice was supercooled. It expanded to break through the surface ice and froze into this incredible wave.
This wave phenomena is seen in Antarctica, but in Michigan? Yes, it's been quite a winter!

Version #2

The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing. Just look at how the wave froze in midair?