24yo kayaker gets swallowed whole by a whale and lives to tell what it feels like to be ‘eaten’ alive

The sea has been personified in various documents that chronicle human history and culture, and one of the most prominent interpretations of its power is its place as a point of rebirth across cultures throughout the world. For Adrián Simancas, however, his rebirth in the sea was more literal than most instances.

Adrián and his father, Dell Simancas, were on a kayak trip in Chile’s Patagonia region in the Strait of Magellan on Feb. 8. From afar, Dell captured his son on camera being swallowed whole before being spat out just a few seconds later while kayaking. After a few recent interviews reported by People, Adrián, now safe, gave a play-by-play recounting of how it feels to be swallowed whole by a whale. He compared the experience to Geppetto and Pinocchio escaping the mouth of a whale in the classic tale.

According to Adrián, at first, the whale felt like a wave — albeit stronger than the ones he usually experiences as a kayaker. But when he turned around, it was dark and blue, with streaks of white flashing across his face. When Adrián started feeling slimy textures, he figured that he’d already been swallowed by a giant fish. But before he knew it, he was being pulled to the surface of the sea by his water vest.

According to Dell, he knew the brief tragedy wasn’t so bad when, after his son had been pulled into the sea, he popped back up immediately and called out his name. However, in a separate interview with AP News, Adrián said he initially thought the humpback whale that swallowed him was an orca, as they had been discussing that just before getting on the water. But once Adrián realized it was just a humpback, he assumed the sea giant was simply curious about what it saw — after that, he was more worried about hypothermia and his father’s safety.

As expected, the horrifying seconds captured by his father have gone viral on social media.

A humpback whale swallowed a kayaker in Chile before quickly releasing him. pic.twitter.com/7OCYXvy8od

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 13, 2025

The video has quickly gone viral on social media, with just about everyone weighing in on how biblical the whole ordeal sounds — of course, comparing it to the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale. But this is not the first instance of a humpback whale gobbling up a person. In 2021, a lobster diver in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was also swallowed by a humpback and lived to tell the tale. That prompted National Geographic to give a full breakdown of why humpbacks simply are not interested in eating human beings.

According to the publication, despite a humpback’s mouth reaching up to 10 feet in width, their throats are only 15 inches at maximum and, under normal circumstances, are only as wide as a regular adult human fist. Humpback whales belong to a category called baleen whales, which only eat small fish and plankton-like seaweed. Consequently, they neither have nor need teeth. Instead, they have special bristles in their mouths, making the process of being swallowed by a humpback whale even less deadly than it seems.

So, next time you find yourself near a humpback whale in the ever-shifting seascape, just know that they actively avoid human contact. But even if you end up living Adrian’s short horror story, while there are chances of you briefly visiting the magnificent creature’s insides, your stay will remain pretty short.