A whale swallowed a man then spat him out alive

It’s a Pinocchio story, which could be considered innocent if it was not credible in the eyes of cetacean experts: a humpback whale “swallowed” on Friday a lobster fisherman from Massachusetts (United States) then spat him out unharmed, and able to tell his story.

“Hello everyone, I want to clarify what happened to me today”, wrote the fisherman Michael packard, from Provincetown, about 200 km east of Boston, after its story was picked up by the local newspaper, the Cape Cod Hours.

“I was diving for lobsters when a humpback whale tried to eat me. I was in his closed mouth for 30-40 seconds, before he surfaced and spat on me. I have bruises everywhere but no broken bones. I thank the Provincetown rescuers for their care and help, ”Packard said.

“Then I realized, oh my god, I’m in a whale’s mouth… and he’s trying to swallow me,” he commented. “I thought, well, now is the time I’m going to die.”He added, while claiming to have thought of his wife and children.

There is at least one reliable witness: Josias mayo accompanied him on this fishing trip and told The Cod Times he saw his partner be thrown by the whale into the Atlantic Ocean and called the rescuers.

And it turns out that Mayo is the son of one of the whale researchers and experts at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, he told the news agency. AFP Robbins joke, director of humpback whale studies at this institution.

“I know the people involved (…) so I have every reason to believe that what they are saying is true”Robbins said.

I had never heard of a similar “accident”, but “it is possible that (the fisherman) is in the wrong place at the wrong time”, he estimated.

When these whales are looking for food, “they launch themselves with their mouths open, swallow fish and water very quickly, then reject the water through the beard“, which act” like a filter “, he explained.

“Her mouth is big enough” but “her throat is quite narrow, there is no way i could swallow something this bigLike a man, he added.

The humpback whale, which Mayo said was still young, was able to “Not detecting quickly enough that there was an intruder” in his mouthexplained the expert. Once he “swallowed” the man, he maybe “got better. surprised and opened his mouth to release him“, He added.

Although all details are unknown, he assures us that a conclusion is in order: Provincetown and Cape Cod area begins to notice return of tourists after 15 months of pandemic and “it is important that people are aware” of the presence of these powerful marine mammals, which adults, depending on age, measure between nine and 15 meters.

And if you see a whale, walk away. It is really important to make room for the whales “, He said.

(With information from AFP and AP)

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