After failing to tickle the tastebuds of a hungry humpback, a Venezuelan kayaker is sharing his shocking story of how he was swallowed whole by a giant marine mammal who spat him out seconds later.

Adrián Simancas Jaimes was enjoying a father-son kayaking trip on February 8 when nature decided to throw in an unexpected twist.

As the Venezuelans paddled through the icy waters of Chile’s southernmost Patagonia region – through the chilly Strait of Magellan – a massive humpback whale suddenly surfaced – right beneath the 24-year-old’s inflatable kayak.

Gentle giants
According to the International Whaling Commission, humpbacks vary in size from 38 to 50 feet and weigh about 40 tons. The gentle giants primarily feed on krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, or small fish, like anchovies, herring, sand lance, and sardines.

“Humpback whales are by nature mostly gentle and non-aggressive animals, so it is very unlikely for them to do any harm to a human. They are however very large and curious and will sometimes approach boats,” writes BBC Wildlife.

“This is however extremely rare as humpbacks tend to be aware of their surroundings and avoid direct contact with boats and swimming humans.”

Curious whale
In an extremely rare situation, one humpback – traveling through Chile’s Strait of Magellan near the father and son kayakers – gave into his curiosity, a move that made him a viral sensation.

Adrián’s father, Meydell, told CNN en Español he started recording the area around his son when he noticed “pretty waves that seemed exciting.”

What he didn’t realize at the time is that the “pretty waves” were created by a giant humpback whale, who is seen in the clip, rising from the depths of the choppy waters to lunge feed right near the unsuspecting kayaker.

Lunge feeding
Humpback whales are known for their distinctive feeding technique called lunge feeding. They open their enormous mouths wide and surge forward, scooping up massive amounts of fish and water in one powerful motion.

Is it time for #dinner? Here, a group of humpback whales lunge feed in Monterey Bay, California. Lunge feeding is when the whale lunges through a shoal of prey with its mouth gaping open, often breaking through the surface of the water. #WhaleWednesday pic.twitter.com/8UE0PJHlWm

— Oceana (@oceana) September 5, 2018

Unfortunately, in this case, the kayaker was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As the whale lunged upward, Meydell heard “what sounds like a strong wave hitting behind me and when I turn around, I don’t see Adrian or his pack raft, so I got worried…”

Speaking with El País, Adrián explained he felt “a hard blow to his back,” and was knocked off his inflatable kayak.

Swallowed and spat
The whale swallowed Adrián and the kayak in one gulp.

Adrián told El País that he spent seconds “in a slimy cavity,” where he heard strange noises and “felt a strong suction.”

The whales, despite their enormous mouths, have relatively narrow throats – as small as a human fist – and don’t have the ability to swallow a person whole.

Shortly after trying to swallow Adrián, the humpback quickly realized he was in over his head and “violently expelled” the man, who finally figured out what was happening.

“Around three seconds later I see [Adrián] shot up to the surface and the pack raft after him,” Meydell told CNN of his son bobbing in the water, along with a “body part of the whale.

Humpback whale swallows man in chile before releasing him unharmed 😮 🐋 pic.twitter.com/j0MAUfbZ9Y

— Stripes// (@SherjStripes) February 13, 2025

“Calm down, grab the boat! Don’t get in!!” he shouted frantically to his son, who was being trailed by the massive marine mammal.

Free from the whale’s mouth, Adrián paddled toward his father’s pack raft. Despite the shock, he quickly reached safety, clinging onto the raft as the duo distanced themselves from the massive marine mammal.

Pinocchio
Recalling the experience, Adrián said, “I thought it had swallowed me whole, although I didn’t really know what it was, and then, when I got back to the surface, I realized it was a whale,” he told El País, adding that he understood the whale approached him out of “curiosity.”

“I also knew that there wasn’t that much danger, unless it started jumping or knocked my dad off his boat, because then it would be very difficult for us to get back to shore.”

Referring to the sperm whale Monstro – the antagonist who swallowed Pinocchio and Geppetto in Disney’s Pinocchio, Adrián – finding the humor in the incident – adds, “When I was inside it, I remembered Pinocchio, who was also swallowed by one.”

For Adrián and his dad, this is the ultimate big fish story, one that he will likely be telling for the rest of his life!

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