Pictures of Frozen Waves-Fiction!
Summary of 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