Watch Police Shoo Family off Unsafe Lake Michigan Ice

The Great Lakes in winter can offer awe-inspiring scenes of natural beauty. They can also be deadly as ice at the shore can be deceptively unstable. Watch a recent incident when police offers frantically warned beachgoers away from unsafe ice along Lake Michigan.

The incident happened in MIchigan City, Indiana, just south of the Michigan state line at New Buffalo.

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The video was captured by Timeless Aerial Photography, a drone operator in northwest Indiana who often captures must-see images along southern Lake Michigan.

It shows revellers who ventured out into the ice of Lake Michigan which appeared to have abbuted right up to the city's pier which extends out to the Lighthouse at Washington Park.

The pier marks the entrance to Michigan City Harbor and serves as the outlet to Trail Creek.

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A Michigan City police officer arrives and begins to frantically waving his hands to alert the ice walkers and direct them off the ice.

This phenomenon is known as shelf ice. The rangers at Indiana Dunes National Park share that Lake Michigan is the deadliest Great Lake when it comes to dangerous shelf ice. The danger comes from being built on unstable lapping waves.

Though shelf ice is gorgeous to observe and may appear solid, shelf ice is inherently unstable. In many places shelf ice cannot support a person’s weight. Sudden shifting and breaking of the ice make it especially hazardous. Never step onto shelf ice.

Another photographer who takes treasured photos along Lake Michigan is Michigan Native Photography who shared a similar warning:

Walking on the shelf ice along the lakeshore is extremely dangerous. Just today, I witnessed a person nearly fall into a hole in the ice. IT IS NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE FOR A PICTURE!!!