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A kayaker in Chile got the shock of his life last Saturday when a whale briefly swallowed him—kayak and all—before spitting him back out, completely unharmed.
Adrian Simancas was paddling with his father, Del, in Bahia El Águila Bay, located in the Strait of Magellan, when the massive creature suddenly surfaced, scooping Adrian into its mouth. For a few heart-stopping seconds, he disappeared inside before the whale decided he wasn’t on the menu and let him go.
The surreal moment was caught on video by Del, who was just feet away. As his son resurfaced, Del can be heard in the recording saying, “Calm down, calm down,” though he later admitted he was just as shaken.
"I thought I was dead," Adrian told the Associated Press, describing the sheer terror of being swallowed. But after breaking the surface, his biggest concern shifted to his father’s safety, fearing the enormous whale might still pose a danger.
Luckily, Adrian managed to swim to his father’s kayak, and the duo paddled back to shore without any injuries—just an unbelievable story to tell.
Incidents like this are incredibly rare, making Adrian one of the few people in history to have ever been (briefly) inside a whale’s mouth and live to talk about it.
Humpback whale swallows kayaker off Chile before releasing him. pic.twitter.com/UuUatMGUxN
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 13, 2025
