Incredible footage has emerged showing the world record being broken for the biggest wave ever surfed.
Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa smashed the record off the coast of Nazaré in Portugal late last year, successfully riding the 24.38-metre wave.
The video was released to Twitter this week, stunning viewers. It shows the giant wall of water towering above the spectators, while a small figure can be seen risking his life as he shoots down the behemoth.
Now, researchers have revealed the science behind the massive wave - and why it was so special.
Sharon Gilman, a biological oceanographer at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, wrote how the combination of wind and beaches work together to create the monsters.
"There are waves of all sizes and shapes rolling into the beach at any given time," she wrote.
"If they're not stopped by anything, waves can travel across entire ocean basins... so the waves at your beach might be from a storm half a world away."
Shorelines with steep sea bottoms cause waves to climb over each other, increasing their height.
"The ones in front start really getting dragged by the bottom and so they slow down," she wrote.
"This allows the ones behind them to ride up their backs. As the distance between the rows of waves decreases, all that wave energy gets condensed into a narrower and narrower space and has to go somewhere, so the wave gets taller."
The underwater terrain at Nazaré combines steep seabed increases with huge underwater walls which amplify the force of the waves, allowing them to grow to staggering heights.
These waves can be deadly. Several surfers have been injured or nearly killed after attempting to ride the giants.
But they still continue to risk their lives in the search for the ultimate ride - and the chance for glory. Waves topping 100 feet have been spotted offshore, according to NPR.
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