A lobsterman from Massachusetts in the United States had a once-in-a-lifetime experience while out diving.
Looking for lobsters off Racepoint Beach in Provincetown, 56-year-old Michael Packard, was swallowed whole by a humpback whale.
Packard, according to The Guardian, said he felt a "huge bump" and "everything went dark."
He thought that a shark had attacked him at first, but realised there was no sharp teeth. He was stuck in the whale's mouth and surrounded by a "curtain of baleen".
Packard kept breathing into his scuba tank regulator, but realised there was nothing he could do. The whale would decide his fate.
He said: "He was going to spit me out, or swallow me." He was also worried what would happen if his air supply ran out.
Luckily, the whale had other ideas.
"All of a sudden he went up to the surface and just erupted and started shaking his head. I just got thrown in the air and landed in the water. I was free and I just floated there. I couldn’t believe … I’m here to tell it," Packard said.
CBS Boston interviewed the captain of a nearby fishing charter, Joe Francis, who saw what happened.
"He’s damn lucky to be alive," Francis bluntly said. He described how he and his crew rescued Packard and calmed him down.
A scientist at the New England Aquarium was quoted by CBS Boston as saying that humpback whales perform "gulp-feeding" where they can open up their mouths very widely.
Packard was just unfortunate to be in its path.
Whales are generally not dangerous to humans, or much interested in us, but due to their immense size it's a good idea to stay away from them while in the water.
Top image from CBS This Morning YouTube channel and Wikimedia Commons by White Welles.