Swallowed by a Whale: A Diver's Miraculous Escape

An American diver's extraordinary encounter beneath the waves has made headlines this week: the diver, named Michael Packard, was swallowed by a humpback whale during a dive at a depth of 44 feet but was suddenly expelled and rushed to the hospital.

In an interview after his remarkable escape from the giant whale's body, Packard recounted how the saga began. He felt a massive hit, and then "everything went dark. I thought I had been bitten by a shark, but then I realized. Oh my God, I am inside a whale's mouth, and it's trying to swallow me. I'm going to die."

In those terrifying and nerve-wracking moments, all he could think was, 'What if it tries to swallow me, and I keep breathing until I run out of air?' I thought to myself, this is it. I'm going to die, and this is the end. I thought about my kids and my wife; there was no way out of this." Although the frightening scene lasted only 30 seconds, after which the whale suddenly surfaced and 'spat' him out, for Packard, it seemed like an eternity. "Suddenly, it rose up, released a lot of water, and began shaking its head side to side. It ejected me into the air, and I landed in the water. I just floated there, free. I couldn't believe I survived."

Packard was rushed to the hospital by a team of biologists who were with him, and his condition was reported as good.

Biologist Jook Robbins, interviewed by the media after Packard's ordeal, noted that it was likely an accident, as humpback whales do not typically swallow humans. "Usually, a humpback whale doesn't do things like this. I think it was as much a surprise to the whale as it was to have a person slide into its throat like that."