Kayaker Swallowed by Whale in Chile, Survives to Tell Tale

PUNTA ARENAS, Chile (AP) — A kayaker had an astonishing encounter with a humpback whale off the coast of Chilean Patagonia last Saturday when the massive creature briefly swallowed him before releasing him unharmed. The incident occurred in Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro Lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan.

Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his father, Dell, when the whale surfaced and engulfed Adrián and his yellow kayak for just a few seconds. Dell, positioned just meters away, recorded the dramatic moment on camera, urging his son to remain calm.

“Stay calm, stay calm,” Dell said as Adrián was released from the whale’s mouth. After the encounter, Adrián recounted, “I thought I was dead. I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.” He described the overwhelming “terror” he felt during those fleeting seconds.

The real fear settled in only after resurfacing, as he worried for his father’s safety and pondered the perilous cold waters. “When I came up and started floating, 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 recalled.

After the harrowing few seconds in the open water, Adrián successfully swam back to his father’s kayak, and they were both quickly assisted back to shore without injury. Despite the near-tragic encounter, both reported being safe.

The Strait of Magellan, located about 1,600 miles (3,000 kilometers) south of Santiago, is lauded as a major tourist destination in Chile’s Patagonia region, recognized for a variety of adventure activities. While currently summer in the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures in the region remain brisk; minima can drop to 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), and highs rarely exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius).

Whale attacks on humans are exceedingly rare in Chilean waters, although there has been a rise in whale deaths due to collisions with cargo ships in recent years. According to local environmentalists, these collisions have been a growing concern over the last decade.