Diver gets swallowed by whale, comes out alive to narrate the incident

Rainer Schimpf in the mouth of the Bryde’s Whale – Heinz Toperczer / Barcroft Media

A 51-year-old South African dive tour operator, Rainer Schimpf, was out with his team to film a sardine run in the ocean before he was grabbed by a Bryde’s whale, that swallowed his head first. Luckily, he managed to get out alive to narrate the experience.

Stating that he and two others had been in the water for two or three minutes before the whale caught him, Schimpf said, “Once you’re grabbed by something that’s 15 tonnes heavy and very fast in the water, you realize you’re actually only that small in the middle of the ocean. I was busy concentrating on the sharks because you want to know if the shark is in front of you or behind you, left or right, so we were very focused on the sharks and their behavior – then suddenly it got dark.” It was then he felt a pressure on his hip, making him realize that he was inside the whale’s mouth. However, his size being too big for the whale to contain in its mouth, had him hopeful. Schimpf held his breath to prepare himself in case the whale took him further down the ocean. Bryde’s whales are supposedly not known for eating humans, hence spit the man back out. 

Rainer Schimpf in the ocean with the Bryde’s Whale  Credit: Heinz Toperczer / Barcroft Images

Schimpf expressed his surprise and astonishment over finding the mammal out of nowhere, as whales would usually be spotted by the divers before they made an attempt to get close. Bryde’s whales apparently only feed on large fish and plankton.