Lobster Diver Accidentally Swallowed by Humpback Whale, Spat Onto Surface After 30 Seconds Without Harm
A diver got the experience of a lifetime when he was almost swallowed whole by a whale. Michael Packard, and his fishing partner, Josiah Mayo, were diving off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, when this bizarre incident occurred, All That's Interesting reported. They were looking for lobsters but somehow got involved with a shark.
The pair set out for lobsters on June 11 but initially did not enjoy much success, ATI reported. They decided to go for another swim just before 8 a.m. Packard was looking through the sandy bottom of Herring Beach Cove when he felt something weird in his back.
"All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove, and the next thing I knew it was completely black,” Packard recalled.
At first, Packard could not figure out exactly what was happening to him. He was enveloped with darkness and thought that he was bitten.
"I was like, 'Oh, my God, did I just get bit by a shark?’ Then I felt around and I realized there were no teeth and I had felt, really, no great pain," he reminisced. Then it struck him, that a whale had swallowed him whole, and at that moment was trying to gulp him.
Packard was frozen, all he could think of was his family while facing imminent death, ATI reported. After 30 seconds, something miraculous happened. The humpback whale started to shake his head, and Packard zoomed to the surface. Mayo saw a burst of white water and located Packard in it.
The same visual was seen by charter boat captain, Joe Francis. He helped Mayo pull Packard into the pair's boat. "I was inside it. I was inside its mouth," and Packard gasped once they had him aboard. "It tried to eat me."
Shocked by the news, Mayo began to look for any serious injuries on Packard, ATI reported. There was nothing but some minor scarps on Packard's body. Experts believe this was because whales are generally not aggressive towards humans. The whale could have swallowed in an attempt to feed.
"They do what we call gulp feeding, and they can open their mouths up incredibly widely," explained Peter Corkeron, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium.
Packard was taken to hospital for treatment of his minor scrapes and was soon released, Smithsonian Magazine reported. He expressed his gratitude for rescue teams in a social media post.
Despite the accident, the man stated that he would continue diving. He further stated that this is not the first time he has encountered something weird during diving. "A while back, I encountered the corpse of a missing person while diving," he claimed, "that is definitely up there with the crazy stories."
Packard has been in so many extraordinary circumstances, that now even being swallowed by a whale will not deter him from doing what he loves, ATI reported. "It looks like being the tough son of a gun he is, he’s ready to be back at it as soon as he can be," Mayo said. "I think we’ll probably be diving in a week, which is pretty remarkable."