A tour guide in Hawaii managed to recover video of his GoPro camera being slowly enveloped by lava which continued to record video.
Erik Storm, owner and lead guide shared the amazing video after managing to dig the camera out of the hardened lava.
Storm said he set his GoPro down while giving a tour of a volcano in August 2016 when the glowing red lava poured over the portable camera.
“I was telling a story about the Polynesian goddess Pele to my guests when my GoPro was hit by the lava,” Storm told CNET.
“I am very passionate about what I do and sometimes get lost in providing our guests with cultural and scientific information.”
The GoPro managed to continue recording as the lava piled on, filling the screen with red flames that eventually gave way to blue skies when Storm attempted to salvage the camera.
“I thought the camera was for sure done when it was engulfed in the lava, he said. “I had a geologist rock hammer with me, and that is how I was able to get it out of the now-cooling rock.”
Storm returned home with his camera surrounded by molten rock and was stunned to find its blue Wi-Fi light was still blinking and the camera would still turn although its lens was melted by the lava.
“The SD card popped right out and the footage was intact,” he said.
Storm’s video has been viewed more than 3 million times since he decided to share it almost a year later and some have questioned its authenticity.
“I have been accused of doing this intentionally, which is definitely not the case,” he said. ”
I am by no means rich, why would I put a $400 camera in jeopardy intentionally? And if I did this to gain attention why would I have not tried to get all that attention back in August of 2016 when this happened?”
