Giant waves hit the coast of Nazare, Portugal, on November 8, providing daunting conditions for surfers.
This drone footage, filmed by uploader Dan Ngo, offers a glimpse at the waves.
“Two months ago I quit my job in New York selling data to pharmaceutical companies to pursue my passions of surf and film,” Ngo told Storyful over email. “I happened to be traveling in Europe when I came across news that a huge swell would hit Nazare. I had only filmed surfing three other times but there’s no beast quite like this. Flying conditions for the drone were extremely difficult, [especially] to gauge distance from the waves as they came out of the ocean. That, coupled with winds up to 25 knots, made flying conditions unfavorable. It was terrifying to see the surfers charge such large waves and [I] am glad there were no fatalities!”
While there were no fatalities, British surfer Andrew Cotton fractured his spine during a wipeout after riding one of the 60-foot waves. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Please note that the royalty-free song in the video is “Herbal Tea,” and was produced by the SoundCloud artist Artificial.Music. A music credit appears at 2:40 in the video. Credit: Dan Ngo via Storyful