Some people go whale-watching. Others—like 24-year-old Adrian Simancas—nearly become whale food.
Last Saturday, during a kayaking trip in Chile’s icy Patagonia waters, Adrian found himself inside the mouth of a humpback whale.
Yes, inside. One minute, he was paddling in the Strait of Magellan; the next, he was swallowed—briefly—before the whale spat him out.
Video Emerges Online
A video camera captured the footage live, and it has since gone viral on social media.
His father, Dell, caught the heart-stopping moment on camera, his voice ringing through the chaos: “Grab the boat!”
Thankfully, Adrian surfaced, shaken but very much alive.
“When I turned around, I felt something slimy,” Adrian recalled. “Then it closed around me. I thought I was done.”
But his life vest kept him afloat, and within seconds, he was back above water.
Marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta reassured the world that the whale had zero intention of making a kayaker sandwich.
“It was just lunge-feeding on fish or krill,” she explained. “Humans aren’t on the menu.”
