The diver said, swallowed by a whale: "He realized his mistake and opened his mouth to spit on me"

For several days, images of this misfortune have been shared on social networks: a South African diver fled death by a miracle last week after the cetacean caught him briefly with his mouth on the shores of Port Elizabeth, in the south of the country. .

The Bible says that the prophet Jonah spent three days inside a whale. Rainer Schimpf had the same experience, but only a few seconds inside a Bryde's whale – a 15-meter, 25-tonne cetacean – while filming a school of sardines.

"I had started shooting at dolphins, sharks, gannets, penguins, and cormorants who were feeding on sardines when, from below, a Bryde's whale suddenly came up," said at the time. AFP an activist of the environment.

"I felt pressure around my waist and I immediately knew what was going on," he added. "It was only a few seconds, until the whale realized its mistake and opened its mouth to spit."

The diver's wife, Silke, and a photographer attended the fear and documented the scene.

In some images, only the two legs of Rainer Shimpf are visible outside the mouth of the whale, a rare and difficult to photograph that feeds on small fish and shellfish.

The diver, once safe, was quick to return to the water.

"We checked to see if the material was good, that it had no bones or broken ribs, everything was fine," he said.

Schimpf, 51, is not a beginner, has 20 years of experience and has been rewarded several times. He is aware of the dangers to which he is exposed.

"Predators like whales or sharks attack their prey and our visibility is often very limited," he said.

"Our determination to ensure the utmost attention and protection of the environment remains intact." "If I were to be born again, I would like to do it like a whale," adds Schimpf.