Talk about a close call.
A humpback whale swallowed a Chilean kayaker whole before miraculously spitting the man out without harming him—a chilling encounter that was caught on camera.
Adrián Simancas is the lucky survivor. He was shaken up by the encounter from last weekend, telling the Associated Press he at one point feared he was dead.
“I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me,” he said.
Simancas was instead spit out unharmed, but found himself without his kayak in the chilly Strait of Magellan—the body of water that separates South America and Antartica that is popular among adventure seekers, but infamous among sailors for its unpredictability.
The kayaker said his fears continued after he was out of the whale’s mouth. He feared he might die in the frigid ocean or that his father, also kayaking, may be attacked next.
“When I came up and started floating, I was scared that something might happen to my father too, that we wouldn’t reach the shore in time, or that I would get hypothermia,” he said.
Those fears quickly dissipated after he safely reached his father’s kayak and the (apparently) hungry whale had left the area. They made it back to shore without further issue, the AP reported.
The father, who recorded the encounter, appeared to remain calm throughout. As his son approached his kayak, he repeatedly told him to stay calm.
Simancas told the AP he initially feared he had been gobbled up by a killer whale, adding that he and his father had just been discussing the apex predator which lives off seals, sea lions, fish, penguins, and even other whales.
Humpback whales are typically less scary for those at sea. They feed off small fish, krill, and plankton, and are known to usually stray away from any contact with humans.
