Powerful and Intriguing Drone Scenes

Most of us have no desire to dive off a cliff. That’s because we’re sane! You never know if you’re about to hit some sharp rocks, and the fall itself is terrifying. But there are those out there who live for the thrills and seek adventure. Here, a drone captured the moment when a Guinness record holder decided to jump over a waterfall at China’s Yellow River. Look at him go!

When we think about volcanoes, hot lava comes to mind. The closest we’ve ever come to one is probably a science fair experiment with baking soda and vinegar. But there actually are a number of active volcanoes today, and they get busy on occasion. Here, a drone caught an eruption on one of the remote islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific. It looks like someone is wearing special gear and trying to get closer. Are they nuts?

The Maldives are a group of islands off the coast of India. It is the place to be if you want to swim with sharks: It is home to over 25 species, and Grey Reef, Black-Tip, White-Tip sharks are the most common. If you’ve been craving that rush in the sea, consider a visit. Look at this fellow, enjoying himself! A drone captured his joy, but we are a little worried.

We never, ever want to get close to a lightning bolt like the residents of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia did here. According to National Geographic: “About 2,000 people are killed worldwide by lightning each year. Hundreds more survive strikes but suffer from a variety of lasting symptoms, including memory loss, dizziness, weakness, numbness, and other life-altering ailments. Strikes can cause cardiac arrest and severe burns, but 9 of every 10 people survive.”

The idea of a flying camera that can buzz around sounds cool — until you realize the implications. Why would someone not peer into your window? We say it’s only a matter of time, if it isn’t going on already. Drones are a peeper’s dream, and we’re not sure what to do about it. Take this innocent sunbathing girl, for example. While she was topless and tanning, she discovered she was being filmed. Yikes!

Brazil is home to the Amazon rainforest, and we know it rains there quite a bit. But outside of the trees, rain can cause a lot of trouble for people. This is a drone shot from above after the damage done in the Rio das Velhas overflow in early 2022. Located in the Minas Gerais region, a state of emergency was called due to intense downpours and landslides. Did everyone escape in time?

In the movies, we always see criminals with a spoon in their cell, slowly digging a tunnel for their escape. Usually, this doesn’t work. But in real life, there are occasional breakouts. Do the inmates get far? With cameras literally everywhere these days, it’s hard to imagine they do. Here, a drone that was flying around to document google earth caught this fellow in the act. But hey, it was worth a try!

Every once in a while, mother nature gets hot and angry. Forest fires are a fact of the world and can be sparked from lightning or lit cigarettes. Once things get flaming, it’s hard to stop. Here, we see an aerial view of the Douglas Okanogan Fire District 15 in Washington. They are in an annual course for their qualification cards, training for the worst-case scenario. How are they doing?

Most people don’t know very much about the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. Perhaps they saw Borat, but the government claimed that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen really misrepresented their culture. We still don’t know enough about this place, but a drone photo showing the beach at the Kapchagay reservoir in the Almaty region is pretty intriguing. Drone photographer Alexandr Vlassyuk really captured a chilly, yet warm moment.

We all saw Free Willy and thought that orcas were lovable performers, somewhere in the sea. In reality, they are incredibly dangerous and often kill their own trainers. They’re nicknamed killer whales for a reason! In the wild, they can defeat any predator. Here a drone shows us their instincts in action off the California coast. It didn’t turn out well for this broadnose sevengill shark, to say the least.

Here, we see an aerial view of the San Miguel Xico Cemetery. Officials opened a new section at beginning of the pandemic, expecting a need for more graves. They were right, sadly. Here, we can see the plots slowly filling up, each decorated by a grieving family. Looking at the toll is pretty scary from the sky! Drones show us a new view of our lives, for better or for worse.

Brazilian Singer Marilia Mendonca was beloved in her home country. She had hits on the radio for years, and no one thought her career was about to end. But end it did, in a horrific crash in 2021. Here, we see the airplane that carried the singer with the four more passengers. It landed in a river, and everyone perished. Marilia was just 26 years old at the time. So very sad!

Oil is the source of most of our modern energy. It is a long process to get the black stuff out of the ground and into cars, though. You need to transport it, and one way that is done is via train. Usually, that works out just fine. But every once in a while, accidents happen. Here, we see a train derailed in Washington state, and it was carrying flammable crude oil. Uh oh!

Farmers in Australia really struggled with a drought in 2019. Here, we see farmer Richard Gillham try to feed his sheep near a lagoon in New South Wales. But everything is dried up, dead, and inhospitable to mammals. Where is the grass? Clearly, it’s nowhere to be found, and Richard was forced to spend $1,000 a day to feed his animals with kibble. From above it looks like a desert!

Ah, the paradise of Hawaii. Did you know that former President Obama, Emma Stone, Beyonce, Julia Roberts, and even Oprah have homes there? A lot of celebs live in the 50th American state, though not full-time. Maybe that’s because life is occasionally interrupted by volcanic eruptions. The authorities have a pretty good idea of when the activity is going to begin, and they evacuate residents in time. But when people are gone, drones capture the chaos.

House fires are scary enough. But house explosions? That’s the stuff of nightmares. A mother of two named Jessica smelled the stench of gas in her home. Then, she made a terrible mistake. She shares: “I just went to the oven. I can’t really remember if it was ignited or not, but I went to turn the dial… and it just blew up straight away…It was so instant, I didn’t have time to do anything differently. As soon as I turned it, it just blew up and threw me to the floor.”

Whales are the biggest animals in the world, and we don’t often see them in real life. They’re just too big to hang out with us! Sadly, when we do find them near us on land, they are in big trouble. This gray whale washed up on Pacifica State Beach in 2019, and unfortunately, there was nothing to be done. This wasn’t the one in the area, either. It was actually the 10th one that year in the Bay area. What was the cause?

Tornados are not just a phenomenon in the center of the USA. Places like Kansas have the reputation for a lot of them, but even Georgia sees its share of swirling devil winds. According to National Geographic: “Every year in the United States, tornadoes do about 400 million dollars in damage and kill about 70 people on average. Extremely high winds tear homes and businesses apart. Winds can also destroy bridges, flip trains, send cars and trucks flying, tear the bark off trees, and suck all the water from a riverbed.”

Dubai is a place in the United Arab Emirates that has been getting a lot of buzz in recent years. It has gold bar ATM machines and luxury everywhere you go. Half a century ago, it was covered in sand. Now, it’s full of modern skyscrapers! The city is a delight if you’re a drone photographer: This winning shot of downtown Dubai by Bachir Moukarzel won awards online, and it’s clear to see why.

Residents of Clear Lake, California were advised not to swim in the local water when it turned bright green. Why the new color? Well, it’s all due to the abundance of blue-green algae, otherwise known as cyanobacteria. Although it is beautiful as a drone shot from above, it is a lot less pretty when you see the effects on the human body. The type that popped up this time released high levels of dangerous toxins, causing everything from nausea to irritation to tingling toes.

During the pandemic, businesses large and small had to shut down. Either government ordered them closed, or they just didn’t have the customers to operate. One major area of the economy that suffered was travel. Here, we see several cruise ships from above in a drone shot. Why are they all floating at a Turkish recycling port? Well, because that’s what they are going to be soon: Recycled material. They’re being junked, due to bankruptcy!

Kolkata, India was probably only known to the world as the site of Mother Theresa’s sad orphanage scenes. It seemed very poor and hopeless, and we haven’t heard much about it since. But look here! These are traditional wrestlers in the city who train near the flower market early every morning. They are called pehlwans, and they spend four hours exercising, stretching, and wrestling. A drone caught them in action!

Sharks and eels are terrifying enough for human swimmers. But if you still don’t fear sea monsters, just wait until you see this drone shot. Here, two gals are peacefully chilling at the beach. Ahead, there are two rays waiting for them and lurking in the shallows in plain view. Should they enter the water, we are afraid of what might happen. Steve Irwin was killed by one, wasn’t he?

The king of the jungle is usually lying around on the savannah. His queen, the lady lion, is the one who goes out and hunts. Regardless of prowl or nap, we stay far away from these big cats. It’s okay to admire lions, but they are deadly if they don’t know you. One wildlife photographer decided to use a drone to get up close and personal with his subject, here.

In America, we have alligators. On the African continent, they have the much bigger and meaner cousin: The crocodile. Here, we see a specimen of the species swimming in the river with a fresh catch. Why, it’s a whole pig! We love bacon, and we shouldn’t be surprised to learn we’re not alone. Crocs love to lurk near human settlements and sneak snacks. Sometimes, they run away with dogs, too!

During the pandemic, Australia was notorious for the strictest measures around. They stood in contrast to countries like Sweden that decided on a laid-back approach. Did citizens of the outback prefer the former or the latter? There were probably a mix of opinions, like everywhere. But here, we can see at least one Aussie had a message about the virus. The phrase ‘stay home’ is etched into the beach!

One of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Europe was the church of Notre Dame, a cathedral that stood for centuries in the middle of Paris. The world was horrified to suddenly see it in flames in 2019. Significant aspects of the structure were damaged, roofs collapsed, and people cried. The government raised funds and pledged to rebuild, but that is expected to take decades. Sacré bleu, we say!

Tornadoes are truly the stuff of nightmares. Things are better when those storms hit in the movies: In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was transported to a strange and magical land full of song. In Kentucky, people didn’t go anywhere. They just hid from the storm and emerged to see this damage. With the help of a drone photo, we can see the extent of the mess, and it doesn’t look pretty.

The corona pandemic caused many governments to take restrictive measures. Many demanded that you totally stay home. But in some places, there was merely encouragement to stay away from others, in case they were sick. At Bristol Park in the UK, the municipality decided to create these hearts for picnic-goers to approximate the correct distance outside. The idea is, stay within the outline and you will be safe. Did it work?

No one loves soccer quite as much as Brazilians. Over there, they call it futbol, but the game is the same. If you have any doubt about it, take a look at this drone shot of fans of team Atlético Mineiro pouring into the street after winning the Brasileirao in 2021. The sheer number of bodies here blocks traffic from all sides. If you joined this crowd, give up on a bathroom break. There’s no escape once you’re in!

If you could choose to be an animal, which one would it be? Many of us probably envy birds, who get to fly high in the sky. Besides the occasional plane trip, we don’t get to see their experience up there. But now, with drone technology. we can get a whole lot closer. This hawk decided to fly close to the device, possibly to take as prey. Hey, why not?

Behold, the Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It’s an incredible feat of architecture in Spain with a Romanesque exterior and a large statue of Jesus on top. He is surrounded by other statues, on the lower walls. But clearly, he’s the star of the show. But regular attendees don’t get to see him so personally, on a daily basis. Only a drone allows that, and we think this shot is magical.

Iowa is known for its corn and kindness, and it does live up to the stereotype. But do you know that ut sometimes has terrible storms? This drone photo from above grain silos shows just how wild and windy it can get. The shot is from the town of Malcom, but Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said that around 10 million acres were damaged. That’s around 1/3 of their crop land!

In recent years, we’ve been hearing a lot about wildfires in California. The sunshine state has just constantly been on fire, and there are different theories why. This is an aerial view of one big blaze called the Bobcat Fire, which happened east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. The neighborhood here is clouded in smoke, and it doesn’t look pleasant. Would you guess that 2.3 million acres burned in the state in 2020?

The UK is known to be a cloudy place. Locals are pretty excited whenever it’s sunny, and they try to make the most of the rays. They are well aware that rain and storm will return soon enough. Occasionally, the English weather can get dangerous, as seen here. A drone was flying around and captured this tree that has fallen in the middle of the road. Police are clearing it and trying to minimize the disruption. But it’s so big!

Mazatlán is a resort town in Mexico with sandy beaches, a renowned boardwalk, and big-game fishing. It has 19th-century architecture against a tropical backdrop. We’ve been hoping to go down there! Apparently, it is also a place daredevils like to go rock jumping, as seen here in a drone photo. This fellow is falling into the clear blue water with his arms extended, soon to be a big, satisfying splash. 

In 2020, Central America was hit hard by mother nature. The nation of Honduras in particular was unlucky enough to get hit by not one, but two major storms. The destruction was a sight to see after Hurricane Eta and Iota unleashed floods in the poor neighborhoods of San Pedro Sula. Deadly landslides and destruction followed. 94 Hondurans died in the mess, and around 100 more died in the region. 

The corona crisis was felt around the world, without a doubt. Different countries tried different strategies, but all saw a lot of sad endings. A drone has captured a view of a gravesite in Vila Formosa Cemetery in Sao Paulo, the largest in Latin America. As you see, all are empty. By this point in the pandemic, officials were already expecting a lot of excess deaths. In no time, these will be filled!

If you don’t live on a fault line, you may never have to deal with an earthquake of any kind. But those who always have that worry in the back of their mind, When will the next disaster strike, and how bad? In Turkey’s Izmir Province, people experienced a 6.6 magnitude quake on the Richter scale. That’s pretty significant, in terms of shaking. Twenty-four people died, and more than eight hundred were injured. Ouch!

The city of Rio de Janeiro is famous for its sunny beaches and Carnivale parties. It’s also the site of a lovely landmark if you’re religious, secular, or anything in between. The Christ the Redeemer statue is a giant figure of stone towering over the city. It’s incredible from the ground. But have you ever seen it from up above? If not, it’s time for a new perspective. A drone perspective!