A kayaking trip in Chilean Patagonia took a terrifying turn when a whale swallowed a man before being miraculously released. The shocking moment, caught on video, has left many stunned by the sheer rarity of such an event. When the unthinkable happened, Survivor Adrian Simancas and his father, Dell, were kayaking in the tourist attraction’s Strait of Magellan on February 8, 2025.
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How Did a Man Get Swallowed by a Whale While Kayaking?
A Shocking Encounter in the Strait of Magellan
Adrian Simancas was enjoying a routine kayaking trip with his father in southern Chile when a humpback whale unexpectedly breached near them. The force of the water and the sudden movement made it difficult for the pair to react.
“When I turned around, I felt on my face like a slimy texture; I saw colors like dark blue, white, something approaching from behind that closed… and sank me,”
In the chaotic moment, he believed he had been swallowed by an orca known for their aggressive hunting techniques. However, he soon realized it was a humpback whale, likely feeding, that had accidentally scooped him up.
The Miraculous Escape
Despite being engulfed by the massive sea creature, Simancas was unexpectedly released within seconds. The whale, likely realizing the mistake, spat him out, allowing him to resurface just a few yards away, PEOPLE reported.
“I was scared that something might happen to my father too, that we wouldn’t reach the shore in time, or that I would get hypothermia,”
He escaped completely uninjured, but his fate could have been much worse had the whale decided to dive deeper with him in its mouth.
