A remarkable video has emerged documenting an unprecedented event in Chilean Patagonia: a kayaker, Adrián Simancas, was briefly swallowed whole by a humpback whale before being miraculously spat back out, unharmed.
The incredible encounter took place in Bahía El Águila, near the Strait of Magellan, a region famed for its stunning natural beauty and thriving marine wildlife. Adrián’s father, Dell Simancas, captured the entire incident on video while kayaking nearby, providing a unique perspective on this unbelievably close call.
As Adrián paddled through the cold waters, the massive humpback whale unexpectedly surfaced, engulfing him and his bright yellow kayak in its enormous mouth. Recounting the experience, Adrián stated, “I thought it had swallowed me.”
While briefly underwater, Adrian described feeling “slimy textures” and seeing “colors as dark blues or whites”. Incredibly, within mere seconds, the whale released him, allowing Adrián to break the surface unscathed. The kayaker became concerned with the threat of hypothermia due to the cold waters in Patagonian.
Dell, who was positioned only a few meters away, expertly recorded the whole episode while calmly assuring his son. The video shows him saying “Stay Calm, Stay Calm.” Upon resurfacing, Adrián expressed his concern for his father’s safety and the looming risk of hypothermia due to the near-freezing water temperatures. Both kayakers made it safely back to the shore.
“When I came up and started floating, I was scared that something might happen to my father too, that we wouldn’t reach the shore in time, or that I would get hypothermia,” Adrián explained, highlighting the additional dangers facing the duo.
Adrián speculates that the humpback whale’s approach was driven by curiosity or an attempt at interaction. It was also a source of relief for him that it wasn’t a marine predator, but humpbacks. Despite the fear, Adrián acknowledges what a unique experience he had kayaking in Patagonia.
“Yes, it was my first thought that I had been eaten by the Orca. But of course, I thought it was a killer whale, an Orca, because we had been speaking about Orcas only moments before,” Adrián admitted, underlining the element of surprise and initial fear.
It is located approximately 1,600 mile south of Santiago (the capital of Chile) and offers activities such as kayaking, whale-watching, and adventure tourism. These waters are home to <a href="https://247newslive.com/tag/humpback-whales/”>humpback whales, but incidents of them coming so close to humans are extremely rare.
Humpback whalesMegaptera novaeangliae() are baleen whalings. They feed on a variety of small crustaceans such as plankton, small fishes and krill. Up to 50-foot length and 36 tons in weight, humpbacks are a large species. Even though humpbacks can grow to 50 feet in length, humans rarely encounter them. They are not considered dangerous. This event is likely to have been unintentional. Experts also agree that it was not predatory. The throat of a whale is too small to accommodate a person.
The extraordinary nature of this event is a reminder to maintain respect for wildlife and exercise caution while exploring the habitats that these magnificent creatures share. There are risks involved in kayaking near areas with whale activity, even if you have a tour guide who is an expert.