Strait of Magellan, Chile – In a wild encounter off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, a humpback whale momentarily engulfed a kayaker before expelling him without injury.
The event took place in Bahía El Águila, close to the San Isidro Lighthouse within the Strait of Magellan. Twenty-four-year-old Adrián Simancas was paddling alongside his father, Dell Simancas, when the enormous whale abruptly emerged from below, enclosing the younger man and his bright yellow kayak inside its jaws for mere seconds prior to setting him free.
Positioned only a short distance away, Dell recorded the episode on video as he urged his son to remain composed. His voice is audible in the recording saying, “Stay calm, stay calm,”.
Adrián shared with the Associated Press, “I thought I was dead. I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.” Adrián further explained, “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.”
Remarkably, the pair made it back to land unscathed despite the fright. Still in shock, Adrián is heard in the video telling his father, “I thought it had swallowed me.”
