Shocking moment in video

Chile: Kayaker briefly swallowed by whale

A kayaker in southern Chile was briefly swallowed by a humpback whale - but luckily he was spat out again.

(Bild: AFP/AAP/AFP, Krone KREATIV, twitter.com/Dell Simancas )

Whale encounter with a moment of shock: In the south of Chile, a kayaker was briefly swallowed by a humpback whale. The 24-year-old escaped with a fright. His father happened to capture the scene on video.

Kayaker Adrián Simancas was paddling unsuspectingly near the town of Punta Arenas in Patagonia when a huge whale suddenly emerged from the water and swallowed him and his yellow boat whole. Five seconds later, the stunned Simancas resurfaced unharmed.

The scene captured on camera (see X article) went viral. The video was published by Simancas' father Dell Simancas.

The father later told a TV station that he was "really scared" in the three seconds when his son suddenly disappeared.

(Bild: KameraOne, Krone KREATIV)

"I thought he had swallowed me"
In the recording, Simancas can be heard shouting to his father: "I thought he had swallowed me." The father, who rushed to help his visibly shocked son, tried to calm him down by saying: "Relax, relax, I'm coming."

The father later told TVN that he was "really scared" in the three seconds when his son suddenly disappeared. "And suddenly he shot out."

24-year-old escaped with a scare
The 24-year-old himself escaped with a scare. He saw something that was "blue and white and passed close to my face", he later told TVN. He didn't realize what was happening. He thought the whale had "eaten" him. According to experts, however, humpback whales are unable to do this due to their small throat.

Whale probably didn't even notice the kayaker
According to marine biologist Maria José Pérez from the University of Chile, incidents like this are "very rare". She told the AFP news agency that she suspected that the kayak had been "right in the whale's feeding area" with krill or fish. The image shows how the whale "came to the surface sideways with its mouth open". The marine mammal had probably not even noticed the small boat.