I had the incredible opportunity to partake in a whale-watching expedition off the coast of Cape Cod a couple of summers back. Our vessel was substantial, and the experienced captains expertly guided us close to the massive, feeding marine mammals, allowing me to witness the grandeur without any apprehension about my safety. The notion of being “swallowed by a whale” may seem like a tale from the Bible or a storybook about wooden puppets, but in reality, it poses a genuine risk. These creatures are immense and lack visibility as they move. While they have no intention of consuming you, accidents can occur.
Just recently, a kayaker in Chile discovered the peril of venturing too near feeding humpback whales during an expedition in the waters off the Patagonian coast. While navigating the waters of the Strait of Magellan with his father, a breaching humpback whale momentarily engulfed him and his kayak.
Since his father was recording their excursion, the entire harrowing incident was captured on video.
A Perilous Encounter
The young man, Adrián Simancas, was in an inflatable kayak when the whale breached, swallowing him and his vessel in one swift motion. Moments later, the whale submerged once more.
Fortunately, the whale swiftly recognized its mistake and disgorged the individual from its mouth, allowing him to resurface and swim towards his father.
The footage depicts the entire heart-stopping episode. “Mantente tranquilo, mantente tranquilo,” the father urged in Spanish after his son was freed from the whale.
“I thought I was done for,” the young man shared with the press. “I thought it had devoured me, that I was no more.”
The “Gentle” Humpback
Humpback whales are non-aggressive creatures that feed solely on tiny fish, crustaceans, and plankton that they filter through their baleen plates. The swift release of the individual was due to the whale’s recognition that nothing in its mouth was viable sustenance.
The issue arises from the position of the whale’s eyes relative to its vast mouth. When a whale opens its mouth to feed, its vision is obstructed, preventing it from seeing objects directly in front of it.
Instances of humpback whales accidentally ingesting humans have been documented when individuals approach too closely. This is largely an unintended occurrence resulting from the whale’s feeding behavior. In a similar incident in 2021, a diver in Cape Cod found himself unexpectedly within the mouth of a humpback whale but emerged unscathed.
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