A humpback whale briefly swallowed a kayaker in southern Chile, before spitting him out unharmed, an amazing escape that was all captured on video.
Adrian Simancas was paddling off the Patagonian city of Punta Arenas on Saturday when the giant baleen surged out of the water swallowing him and his yellow kayak whole.
Five seconds later a stunned Simancas bobbed to the surface, as the whaleโs dorsal again emerged above the surface of the frigid gray water.
โI thought heโd swallowed me!โ Simancas exclaimed.
The entire remarkable episode was caught on camera and quickly went viral after being posted on social media by his father, Dell Simancas, who can be heard shouting โRelax! Relax!โ to his understandably unrelaxed son.
โGrab it, grab itโ the father adds, instructing his son to keep a hold of the kayak to stay afloat while the whale continued to swim behind him,
โRelax, relax, Iโm coming,โ the father says. โLetโs go to shore.โ
The 24-year-old son told Chileโs TVN channel he saw something โblue and white passing close to my face, and it was like on one side and above me.
โI didnโt understand what was happening and then I sank. I thought it had eaten me.โ
His father said he turned around and โdidnโt see anything, I didnโt see Adrian.
โThat was the only moment of fear I really had, because I didnโt see him for like three seconds. And suddenly he shot out,โ he told TVN.
Experts said the whale could never have swallowed the kayaker, as humpbacks have small throats.
โIt seems that the kayak was right in the whaleโs feeding patch (of krill or fish),โ marine biologist Maria Jose Perez, of the University of Chile, told AFP.
That is why it is seen โemerging to the surface sideways, with its mouth open.โ
โThese events are very rare and have happened in the presence of silent vessels, such as kayaks,โ she said, explaining that the whale probably did not notice the smallย boat.
AFP
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