It’s nearly four years since US scuba diver Michael Packàrd was left severely bruised after spending an estimated 40 seconds in the maw of a feeding humpback whale off Cape Cod, Massachusetts – so Venezuelan kayak Adrián Simancas could count himself lucky last week that he was spat out unharmed almost immediately after a close encounter with another humpback.
Unlike Packàrd, 24-year-old Simancas had been at the surface when surprised by the whale, and his in-mouth experience was momentary, though on this occasion it was captured on video, from the pack-raft being paddled nearby by his father Dell.
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The incident occurred on 8 February in Aguila Bay in the Strait of Magellan off Chile’s Patagonian coast.
Packàrd had been lobster-diving about 14m deep, as reported on Divernet, when he had found himself doing his Jonah impression, but after the whale had repeatedly shaken its head in disbelief the diver had been spat out at the surface and left with a memorable story to tell.
Fortunately he had been able to pull off an impressive regulator recovery while still engulfed by the whale.
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Both he and Simancas had however been convinced that they were going to die. Dell Simancas could be heard telling his son, who had initially thought he was being attacked by a killer whale, to stay calm as he reached him after the incident.
Although the experience had lasted only seconds Adrián said that he, like Packàrd, had been aware of the whale’s jaw muscles and terror at the prospect of being swallowed.
Headlines have also referred to Simancas being ’swallowed’ by the whale, but in fact no humpback would be able to swallow a human because, despite the capacious mouth, its throat stretches to less than 40cm across and the size of a fist where the narrow gullet starts.
Neither does the whale have teeth to break down prey. The same applies to most other whales, including giants such as blues, and even toothed whales lack a sharp bite.
Only a sperm whale which, with a throat as wide as 60cm, is equipped to ingest giant squid, could conceivably consume a human, though the prospect is extremely remote.
Such physical encounters with large cetaceans are not only rare but invariably accidental, as two female whale-watchers found while paddling a kayak off Avila beach in California in 2020. They made their own headlines when they suddenly found themselves in the middle of a large baitball after being tipped into the water by a feeding humpback.
Also on Divernet: Diver’s too-close whale encounter
Some preachers tried to use this episode to prove Jonah was swallowed, but not understanding the actual anatomy of whales.