While packrafting on the coast in Patagonian Chile near the San Isidro Lighthouse with his father, 19-year-old Adrian Simancas was swallowed by a humpback whale.
Packrafter who spent three seconds in a humpback whale’s mouth speaks about the ordeal
In the video, Adrian was paddling without issue when the whale surfaced directly beneath him. He disappeared from the video, only to surface just a few seconds later followed shortly by his packraft, as if spit out.
“Yes I thought it had already eaten me and swallowed me,” Adrian told The Independent in an interview. “But of course I felt that maybe it was a killer whale. We had been talking about orcas shortly before, so I had that in my head. But when I got out I understood that, of course, it was probably out of curiosity that the whale had approached me or maybe to communicate something.”
Dell Simancas, Adrian’s father, was also out on the water and filmed the ordeal.
“When I turn around I don’t see Adrian, my partner, my son,” shared Dell. “I don’t see him and I don’t see the boat. So I was surprised and worried. And then I see him come to the surface and after him the boat comes to the surface. And then I see a body part of a body part of the whale.”
After Adrain emerged Dell towed his son to safety.
“And when I got out and started to float there I was really afraid that something would happen to my dad too. That we would’ve have reached the shore in time and I would get hypothermia,” added Adrain.
Thankfully both packrafters survived the ordeal without further incident.
Can a humpback whale swallow a person?
Humpback whales are not exactly known for attacks on humans— in fact, they don’t even eat marine mammals! Humpback whales filter feed on krill and small fish, often using a variety of techniques including group bubble feeding where multiple humpbacks use bubbles to corral prey. Additionally, a humpback whale’s throat is only about the size of your fist, making it technically impossible for a humpback to swallow a person, though it could perhaps still be argued that from the packrafter’s point of view he was undoubtedly engulfed and swallowed.
This is not the first time paddlers have had close encounters with humpback whales; in 2020 off Avila Beach in California kayakers were nearly swallowed when a humpback surfaced beneath them.
In 2015, a humpback whale breaching and landing on top of his kayak launched Tom Mustill’s fascination with human and animal interactions, leading to the 2022 publication of his book How To Speak Whale.
In Patagonian Chile, a packrafter is nearly swallowed by a humpback whale. Feature Image: The Independent | YouTube.
