Plenty of bigger waves out there, they just haven’t been recorded by a buoy. Two of the most overestimated occurrences in the marine world are wave height and wind speed.
Wave dynamics is interesting. One thing of note is that while wave crests can jack up high the opposite is also true. The troughs can also get very low. This is referred to as wave holes and is probably more dangerous than tall wave. The bow of the ship drops into a deep trough and stuffs into the face of the oncoming wave. I’ve flown alot and sailed a little and the ocean is far more dangerous than the sky...