While there are occasional reports of whales inadvertently swallowing humans, such incidents are extremely rare.
For instance, just a few days ago, a lobster diver made headlines after escaping death when he was swallowed by a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts while working. Michael Packard recounted: “Suddenly, I felt a strong impact, and everything went dark.” He remembers struggling in the whale’s mouth for about 30 seconds before it surfaced, shook its head, and spat him out. This was not necessarily a stroke of luck, as humans are not food for whales, and their throats are too small relative to human size.
Scientifically, whales cannot swallow a human.
According to Nicola Hodgins from a non-profit organization dedicated to whale and dolphin conservation: “Despite their massive size, humpback whales can indeed fit a human inside their three-meter-long mouths. However, scientifically, this cannot happen; whales cannot swallow a human. This is because the throat of a humpback whale is roughly the size of a human fist and can only stretch slightly larger, with a diameter of about 38 cm for larger prey.”
In Michael Packard’s case, Nicola Hodgins added, “He was much more likely to be submerged rather than swallowed.” Thus, as soon as the whale realized its mistake, it immediately spat him out. This incident was not only a traumatic memory for Michael Packard but also an unpleasant experience for the whale, whose primary diet consists of smaller fish. “Packard was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Their primary diet consists of smaller fish.
In fact, this is not the first time a person has accidentally found themselves in a whale’s mouth. Previously, in 2020, kayakers were accidentally swallowed by a humpback whale in California. Similarly, in 2019, a tour operator in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, experienced a related incident. However, the most famous story remains that of Jonah from the Bible, who was swallowed by a whale and spent three days and three nights in its belly. Even Geppetto, Pinocchio’s father, was swallowed by a whale in a children’s fairy tale.
The notion of whales swallowing humans has long been a tale frequently mentioned, to the point that many believe it to be true. However, scientifically, most whale species cannot do so, except for one species — the sperm whale. Therefore, in the rare instances where a person ends up in a whale’s mouth, it is almost certainly an accident since humans are not part of a whale’s diet.
Whales have a unique structure inside their mouths instead of teeth.
Regarding toothed whales like sperm whales, their diet typically includes squid and fish. Meanwhile, baleen whales such as humpback whales, blue whales, gray whales, and minke whales possess a unique structure in their mouths instead of teeth and usually consume small prey such as plankton, mollusks, and small fish. These structures are made of a hard yet flexible protein called keratin, which is also the main component of human hair and nails, arranged in plates resembling the shape of a comb. Accordingly, when feeding, whales typically gulp a large amount of seawater and use this structure like a net to trap food in their mouths while pushing water out through the gaps.
Among the 90 known whale species on Earth, theoretically, the sperm whale is the only one with a throat large enough to swallow a human. This 20-meter-long mammal has a large esophagus to consume larger prey like giant squid. In fact, giant squids measuring up to 14 meters have been found inside the stomachs of sperm whales. Although theoretically this could happen, the likelihood remains very low due to the rarity of encounters between humans and sperm whales.
Most people will never have the chance to see a sperm whale.
According to Rob Deaville from the Zoological Society of London: “Most people will never have the chance to see a sperm whale in their lifetime. Although sperm whales are widely distributed across the globe, these deep-diving animals primarily inhabit the ocean and usually reside at depths greater than 3,048 meters.“
