What almost sounds like Moby Dick is said to have actually happened on the US coast. A fisherman claims to have been swallowed by a humpback whale.
Provincetown – sailor’s thread or a true story? Jonathan Frakes could have thought up this story himself, but according to a fisherman from the USA it actually happened as follows: Michael Packard, a fisherman from Provincetown, Massachusetts, is said to have been swallowed by a whale.
“I was diving for lobsters when a humpback whale tried to eat me,” said the US fisherman in an interview with local broadcaster CBSN Boston. The man apparently did not suffer any serious injuries. The whale spat it out again after 30 to 40 seconds. “I have bruises all over the place, but no broken bones,” Packard continued.
Humpback whale is said to have swallowed US fishermen
But how did the incident come about? Packard was at a depth of around 13 meters. Suddenly he felt a violent jolt, “everything went black,” reported the fisherman. Initially, he assumed a shark attack. But there weren’t any teeth, he wasn’t in severe pain.
Veteran Cape Cod lobster diver Michael Packard was swallowed whole by a humpback whale and lives to tell the story… pic.twitter.com/CQcCP2fdVs
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 12, 2021
“That’s when I realized, oh my god, I’m in the mouth of a whale and he’s trying to swallow me,” Packard told the broadcaster. However, when the fisherman was already thinking of its near end, the humpback whale swam to the surface and spat it out. “I was thrown in the air and landed in the water.”
Witness confirms whale attack – expert believes “accident” is possible
There are even supposed to be witnesses for the almost unbelievable incident. Josiah Mayo had gone out fishing. Mayo said he helped Packard out of the water and called the rescue workers. And, what a coincidence, Mayo is the son of a researcher and expert on whales at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. “I know the people involved (…) so I have every reason to believe what they are saying is true,” said research centre’s humpback whale studies director, Jooke Robbins, of the AFP news agency.
Although she has never heard of such an “accident” either, she thinks it is entirely possible. Their explanation: whales would “dash ahead with open mouths in search of food and swallow fish and water very quickly”. “Their mouths are quite wide,” but “their throats are rather narrow” – impossible for them to swallow anything large like a man.
Still, the question remains open – based on Jonathan Frakes: Did this story really happen or was it made up? (nc with afp)
