In an unusual encounter off the coast of Chile, a commercial diver experienced a frightening moment when he was briefly “swallowed” by a marine mammal, a whale. The unique experience had a fortunate outcome with the diver emerging unscathed.
The diver, Rainer Schimpf, was documenting a sardine run, a natural event where large schools of sardines migrate across oceans. However, the spectacular underwater phenomenon took a sudden turn when a Bryde’s whale, a species known to frequent the area, accidentally included Schimpf in its feeding frenzy.
According to Schimpf, in the midst of a dive, he found himself completely enveloped in darkness. With the realization that he had been taken into the mouth of a whale, Schimpf held his breath, fearing that he may be plunged into the depths of the sea.
Luckily, the whale, realising it had caught something far too large to swallow, spat Schimpf back out after a few uncomfortable moments. The incident was captured by onlookers from the dive boat.
Bryde’s whales, named after Johan Bryde who first described them, are baleen whales, which means they feed by straining huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates. In the process, any food, like krill and small fish, are captured and swallowed. However, their throat opening is relatively small, largely unsuited for swallowing something of the size of a diver.
Bruce Thompson, a marine biologists, stated that a human being accidentally included in a feed is extremely rare. He further explained, “What happened here is really a case of the diver being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The whale would have been as surprised as Rainer.”
Images and video footage of the ordeal are testament to the diver’s narrow escape. After the incident, Schimpf was reportedly calm, though he confessed the experience was unnerving. Nonetheless, he expressed gratitude for the unexpected wildlife encounter, “I would like to go back into the ocean and continue my work to document the sardine run;” said Schimpf.
This remarkable incident brings to light the inherent risks involved in close encounters with wildlife, even for highly experienced professionals. Notwithstanding the shock, Schimpf’s experience defies the nature of typical human-animal interactions, shedding light on an almost unprecedented occurrence.
Last modified: February 15, 2025
