It's internationally renowned as one of the world's most feared waves but for thrillseekers, The Right offers a ride like no other. The deepwater break off the coast of WA's south coast roared back to life with the first extra large winter swell - and a new generation of surfers and photographers were there to take it on.
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TVTranscript
00:00 It's where beauty and bone-tingling fear meet.
00:04 It's just, yeah, it's terrifying.
00:06 The big wave break, known simply as the right, rearing up from the cold southern ocean off
00:11 WA's south coast.
00:14 Up close it's heart-stopping.
00:15 For the emerging crop of big wave surfers like WA team Ned Hall, the break is an important
00:23 proving ground.
00:26 The wave break's almost a kilometre offshore.
00:29 It's a life-threatening challenge for surfers and the camera operators who record the action.
00:34 To get the best shots, they either have to film from a jet ski or take the risk of jumping
00:38 in the water to get up close.
00:41 Cinematographer Aidan Keane was called up last minute ahead of a promising swell.
00:45 And then ten minutes before he was ready to go, he called me up and said, "Pack your bag.
00:50 I hope you charge your batteries.
00:51 I'm going to come pick you up."
00:52 Dropped into the line of fire, Aidan steeled his nerves as reality set in.
00:58 You're a little shark bait.
00:59 Disregarding personal safety to edge closer.
01:02 The real problem I had when I started was I would kind of try and get away from the
01:07 scary bits.
01:08 Where you want to be is where the wave's the most scariest.
01:10 And then perfectly poised to nail the shot.
01:13 One of the waves I shot, I realised afterwards that I was hanging off the side of the wave
01:17 and I didn't quite process that at the time.
01:20 I was like, "Oh wow.
01:22 That was probably not the smartest spot."
01:24 But in the same vein, it's the best shot I've ever done.
01:27 Aidan, what heart rate are you running?
01:28 Oh, about 120.
01:29 A shot of a lifetime at one of the scariest waves on earth.
01:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]