Beauty of Frozen Waves
Rolling blue waves hit the Antarctic coastline
These brilliant blue beauties, which look like tidal waves frozen at their highest point, were captured by
French astrophysicist (and part-time photographer) Tony Travouillon as he travelled across Antarctica.
1. Don’t expect to see surfboards – or snowboards – on these majestic frozen outcroppings
near the Dumont D’Urville research station in Antarctica. (Photo by Tony Travouillon)
2. Although the waves appear as if they’ve been instantly frozen as they broke from the ocean surface,
they’re actually a natural phenomenon of blue ice, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
As outer layers of ice melt during the summer months, new layers of ice compress to form the top of the waves.
(Photo by Tony Travouillon)
3. Astrophysicist Tony Travouillon took the pictures in 2002. While studying for his doctorate,
he spent summers from 2000 to 2004 in Antarctica. Although the frozen monstrosities look quite chilly,
he says it wasn’t so bad near the South Pole. (Photo by Tony Travouillon)
4. “The temperature was actually quite pleasant since it was summer – around zero Celsius,�
recalls Travoullion in an email to Yahoo! “I was passing through Dumont D'urville, which is a compulsory
stop on my way to Dome C, where I did some astronomical research.� (Photo by Tony Travouillon)
5. “I walked to these blue icebergs with a group made up of transitioning scientists like me and winter-overs
[people who winter in the area] who knew of the location of these beauties,� Travoullion says.
“It was just one of the many amazing sights that you can find on the coast of Antarctica.�
(Photo by Tony Travouillon)
6. The giant waves covered in a brilliant blue sheen are actually giant icicles,
“The beautiful smoothly polished surfaces are again the result of melting,� it notes.
“The transparent ice … has been created in a glacier or ice cap by the slow annealing of ice
as it is buried under each year's successive accumulation of snow.� (Photo by Tony Travouillon)
7. The blue coloring of the ice comes from tiny bubbles in the ice, which diffuse the red light in color spectrum,
and leave only blue light to reflect to the human eye. (Photo by Tony Travouillon)
8. Travouillen no longer spends his days in the frosty climates. Nowadays, he can be found in the much warmer
Hawaiian Islands, where he works on the Thirty Meter Telescope project, a giant telescope planned to open in 2021.
(Photo by Tony Travouillon)