GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 
tags: Newfoundland, freezing waves, streaming video
This strange weather phenomenon happened in Newfoundland where the waves were actually frozen as they crashed on the beach [1:00]
Possible explanation: This phenomenon, while visually stunning, can be easily explained. It likely wasn't extremely cold when this occurred, as you can tell by looking at the still liquid mudpuddles and also by the guy in shorts. It was probably early in winter, when the surface of the water in the bays and inlets near these small communities was just beginning to freeze. This thin layer of ice on the surface of the water was thin enough that it was easily broken up by waves on a windy day, and those waves deposited those ice chunks on the beach as they crashed.
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Comments
I'm not convinced there are any waves. My guess is that a continuous but weak sheet of ice is being driven into the shore -probably by wind pressure, and piling up a the shore.
Posted by: bigTom | January 31, 2008 11:41 AM
The incoming tide could have also had an influence on the "piling" effect of the ice.
Posted by: M Mack | January 31, 2008 6:33 PM
I'm reminded of a stint I worked in a chemical factory. Somtimes we had to decant Acetic acid, which freezes at around 16 degrees C; on a cold day it could easily get supercooled. Then the moment it hit the bottom of the vessel you were decanting into, it would freeze, and the freezing would quite literally rise up the stream of pouring liquid and into the bottle you were pouring from, cartoon style.
Interesting, but also annoying after a while..
Posted by: Andrew Dodds | February 1, 2008 4:26 AM