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Everyone has dreamed of diving into a giant pool of Jell-O at least once in their life. No? Just me? Be honest, there had to have been one time at the swimming pool when you estimated how much powder you’d need to turn the entire thing from water to orange Jell-O. While in retrospect the idea seems impractical and messy, there’s no denying how much fun that sounded when we were kids.

Last year, photographer Jonathan Nimerfroh got closer to making that dream come true than most of us ever will. The only difference was, instead of a pool full of Jell-O, Jonathan found himself staring at an ocean full of Slurpee. Well … sort of. The waters of the Atlantic Ocean weren’t actually filled with the icy convenience store beverage, but only looked like it due to the unusually cold temperatures that were making it freeze. Lakes freeze every year, but oceans? That’s something you don’t see every winter.

So, the photographer/surfer/ocean enthusiast set out to capture the beauty of this rare event. As the partially-frozen waves churned and hit the shore, they appeared to be made out of something much thicker than water. Jonathan describes the sight as follows, “The wind was howling from 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.” Scroll through the pictures below for an up-close look at this bizarre phenomenon. The next time this happens, we’ll be sure to have some grape Slurpee mix on hand!

They were a strange, thick consistency … they reminded him of the Slurpee machines at 7-Eleven.

Maybe a silly name for such a majestic phenomenon, but 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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H/T: JDN Photography

Read more: http://www.wimp.com/frozenwaves/