Whale swallows diver before spitting him out
Michael Packard was 45 feet (14 meters) deep in the coastal waters off Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Friday (June 11), when he was suddenly gulped inside the mouth of an enormous marine animal. The diver says he was in the whale’s mouth for 30 seconds.
“All of a sudden, I felt this huge bump, and everything went dark,” he told.
VIDEO CREDIT : CBS BOSTON
At first he thought he had been attacked by a shark, as great whites frequent the area, but he soon realized he couldn’t feel any teeth. “Then I realized, ‘Oh my God, I’m in a whale’s mouth and he’s trying to swallow me, And I thought to myself ‘OK, this is it — I’m finally — I’m gonna die.'” Packard’s thoughts turned to his wife and his two sons, ages 12 and 15.
He estimated that he remained trapped inside the mouth of the leviathan for 30 seconds, and he was still able to breathe through his scuba respirator. But then the whale, clearly keen to remove its unwelcome, and inedible, guest, surfaced, shook its head and spat him out.
As luck would have it, however, the whale wasn’t too keen on its latest meal. “I saw light, and he started throwing his head side to side, and the next thing I knew I was outside (in the water),” said Packard. He ultimately escaped from his close encounter with only a broken leg and a few other minor injuries.
SOURCE: LIVE SCIENCE
