‘I received swallowed by a whale – I assumed I’d die as every part went black’

A diver who was eaten by a whale spoke of the terrifying moment his whole world went black.

Michael Packard suddenly found himself in the jaws of a huge whale in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The lobster diver said he felt like he had been hit by a “freight train” when the incident occurred in 2021

“It was just a normal day for me I go out right at sunrise,” the 58-year-old said. Licensed lobster divers are allowed to swim down to the depths to pick up the sea creatures from the sea floor.

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He added: “I get in the water and I did two dives… And then the third dive, I dove down and I was descending to the bottom. And I just got slammed. Just like a freight train… and then all of a sudden it went black.”

Michael continued: “And water was just rushing, rushing around me, and black, and I could feel pressure on my whole body. And I was just moving through the water like wicked fast. And I’m like ‘what the f**k’.”

Remarkably, Michael said he managed to work out it was a whale that had grabbed him and he was confident it was not a shark. Initially, he thought a fearsome Great White Shark had decided to attack him.

Despite sharks having much more of a reputation for fatalities involving humans, Michael still didn’t feel great at the idea of being inside a whale’s mouth. He said he was “100% sure” he was going to die. Michael said all he could do was think about his wife and children while he was in the mouth of a humpback whale. I was completely inside; it was completely black.”

A desperate Michael began kicking inside the whale. Suddenly, the creature began to throw its head from side to side before it finally resurfaced. Michael said: “I saw light, and he started throwing his head side to side, and the next thing I knew I was outside (in the water).”

Nearby crewman Josiah Mayo saw the whale resurface and toss Michael back into the sea. It is estimated he was inside the creature for around 30 to 40 seconds. Packard’s sister, Cynthia Packard said Josiah told her: “There was all this action at the top of the water.”

Whale experts say that when humpback whales open their mouths to feed their vision can become blocked. It may explain why Michael suddenly found himself in such a strange position. Michael eventually escaped without any broken bones but had a “lot of soft tissue damage”. The brave diver even returned to work just three weeks later.

Michael even took his newfound fame onto the Jimmy Kimmel show, where he bantered with the presenter about being “swallowed”. I wasn’t swallowed, Jimmy,” Packard told the TV host. “I was in his mouth. Get that straight.”

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