A Lobster Diver In Cape Cod Says A Humpback Whale Scooped Him Up And Spat Him Out
A commercial lobster diver says he escaped relatively unscathed after nearly being swallowed by a humpback whale, in a biblical-sounding encounter that whale experts describe as rare but plausible.
Michael Packard, 56, said that he was diving off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Friday morning when the whale suddenly scooped him up.
"I was in his closed mouth for about 30 to 40 seconds before he rose to the surface and spat me out," Packard later wrote on Facebook. "I am very bruised but have no broken bones."
The Cape Cod Times reports that Packard was rescued from the water by his crewman and rushed back to shore, where he was transported to Cape Cod Hospital. He walked — albeit with a limp — out of the hospital that afternoon.
While he`s still recovering from soft tissue damage, Packard told the newspaper he`ll be back in the water as soon as he heals.
"Packard told WBZ-TV that he was about 45 feet down in the water when he suddenly felt "this huge bump and everything went dark." He initially feared he had been attacked by a shark.
"Then I felt around, and I realized there was no teeth and I had felt, really, no great pain," he said. "And then I realized, `Oh my God, I`m in a whale`s mouth. I`m in a whale`s mouth, and he`s trying to swallow me.` "
Packard was still wearing his scuba gear and breathing apparatus inside the whale`s mouth, which he said was completely dark. Fearing he wouldn`t make it out alive, he thought about his wife and sons."
After about half a minute, the whale rose to the water`s surface and began shaking its head from side to side.
"I just got thrown in the air and landed in the water," Packard recalled. "And I was free, and I just floated there ... I couldn`t believe it. I couldn`t believe I got out of that."
… June 12, 20213:52 PM ET
Adapted from: TREISMAN, R (2021) A Lobster Diver Was Nearly Swallowed By Humpback Whale : NPR
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