Surfer Rides Gigantic Wave

Take a good, long look at the photo above this sentence. Let it sink in that the speck you see in the middle of the frame is an actual human being on an actual surfboard riding an actual, real-life wave — no special effects here.

In fact, many in the surfing world suspect the photo above shows the biggest wave ever surfed.

The man on the board is a Brazilian big wave surfer named Carlos Burle. He spent Tuesday in Nazare, Portugal, catching this swell after being towed in by a jet ski near the end of the day. It’s estimated to measure some 100 feet in height—much higher than the confirmed world record of 78 feet set by Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara.

There’s video of Burle’s wild ride, too. The YouTube clip below has been viewed more than 86,000 times since Tuesday. Give it a look for a stunning perspective on an athletic accomplishment that’s both terrifying and amazing at the same time:

[youtube width=”602″ height=”350″ video_id=”gCiEfeXRMPk”]