62-Year-Old Fisherman Survives Being Trapped Inside a Humpback Whale

Michael Packard, an experienced fisherman from Massachusetts, was on a routine dive when a sudden impact thrust him into the open mouth of a humpback whale. The water darkened, his breathing regulator was ripped away, and he briefly thought a shark had attacked him before realizing his true predicament. He tried to push against the whale’s interior and felt the massive tongue contract around him, fearing he might run out of air.

After roughly half a minute, the whale rose to the surface and expelled him, and his fellow diver Josiah Mayo pulled him onto the boat. Packard later recounted the ordeal in interviews and at a screening of the film “Whalefall,” noting the intense claustrophobia and the emotional impact of thinking about his family. He has survived other life-threatening events, including a near-drowning at age 14 and a plane crash in Costa Rica, and now shares his story to inspire awe and respect for the ocean.