A dramatic photo of a thick lightning bolt illuminating the night sky as it seemingly touches Lake Michigan is racking up likes and shares on Facebook.
Jack Brandenburg from Door County, Wis. snapped the picture early Tuesday morning while aboard the Mesabi Miner, where he works as a mate. He used his Samsung cell phone camera and a long exposure.
The 1,004-foot ship was carrying iron ore from Duluth, Minn., to Indiana Harbor, Ind.
"The weather wasn’t quite as dramatic as it looks in the picture though it was raining and lightning," Chrissy Kadleck, who manages social media and public relations for the Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company, said in an e-mail.
The Interlake Steamship Company has nine freighters that travel the Great Lakes delivering bulk raw materials for the power generation, steel-making and construction industries.
The company shared Brandenburg's image on its Facebook page Tuesday morning. By the evening, it had been shared more than 4,000 times and liked more than 3,000 times.
"This picture has blown all of our previous social media records out of the water," Kadleck said.
Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.
