Diver Recounts Being Swallowed and Spat Out By 20-Ton Whale: 'Nothing Can Prepare You'

Most of us have a cartoonish idea of what the inside of whale’s stomach looks like thanks toPinocchio, but diver Rainer Schimpf almost found out what a whale belly looks like for real.

Rainer was 25 nautical miles out from Port Elizabeth, documenting the annual sardine run that occurs off the coast of South Africa, when the terrifying incident occurred. The diver said the sardine run offers animal lovers an unique opportunity to document many of the ocean’s most magnificent creatures, because the spawning event happens so close to shore and attracts all kinds of marine life.

Rainer was in the water trying to film a shark cruising through the giant school of sardines, when “the next moment it got dark, and I felt some pressure on my hip.”

An experienced diver, Rainer said he knew instantly that a whale had grabbed him.

“Nothing can actually prepare you for the event where you end up inside the whale, and then it’s pure instinct,” he added.

Shortly after submerging, the whale released Rainer, who swam back up to the water’s surface.

Rainer returned to his boat unscathed and feeling closer to whales than ever before.

The diver and witnesses to the incident believe the whale was just as surprised to find a man in it’s mouth.

source: people.com