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Balls of ice are seen in one of several YouTube videos showing the awesome winter phenomenon.

(YouTube)

LEELANAU COUNTY, MI -- The giant ice boulders that earned recognition last year as one of the most amazing earth images of 2013 have again formed on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, drawing the attention of photographers and tourists alike.

The beach ball-sized ice formations are shown in several YouTube videos this week washing in and out from the Lake Michigan shoreline, looking quite like a large-scale collection of Dippin' Dots ice cream.

Related: Facebook photos of giant ice boulders along Sleeping Bear Dunes go viral



Suttons Bay photographer Ken Scott captured the ice boulders in a YouTube video that surfaced this week.

Scott visited Good Harbor Bay along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and found it peaceful and solitary, dotted with the ice he has seen appear periodically for years.

Park Ranger Amie Lipscomb explained how the rounded ice forms when chunks of ice break off large sheets of ice on the lake. As the waves tumble and pummel the smaller pieces of ice, the edges are smoothed and rounded. New layers of ice are continually added, much the same way pearls are shaped. Weather conditions have to be just right, Lipscomb said.

Some of the boulders are thought to weigh as much as 75 pounds.

Each year, the image strikes Scott, draws him back for another chance to capture it with his camera.

Scott pulled on warm winter clothing and hiked a half-mile from the road to where he had a good view. Roads in the area are snow-covered, making travel by vehicle difficult.

Wind gusts in the negative digits that blew snow through the air this week didn't faze Scott. He knows the scenery that comes during some of the biggest winter storms.

"That's when some of the best shows are," he said.

Scott captured another phenomenon, pancake ice, while passing through Leland's Fishtown in 2011. Lily-pad like discs of ice swirled and rotated along the Leland River.