Humpback whale swallows, then releases kayaker in Chilean waters VIDEO

A humpback whale briefly swallowed a kayaker off the coast of Chilean Patagonia before quickly releasing him unharmed in a dramatic incident captured on video.

Adrián Simancas and his father, Dell, were kayaking in Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan when a humpback whale surfaced and engulfed Adrián and his yellow kayak for several seconds before spitting him out, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Dell, who was only a few meters away, filmed the moment.

“Stay calm, stay calm,” he can be heard saying after his son was released from the whale’s mouth. “I thought I was dead,” Adrián said. “I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.”

He described the “terror” of those few seconds, explaining that his real fear surfaced only after resurfacing, concerned that the massive whale might harm his father or that he could drown in the cold waters. Despite the terrifying ordeal, Dell stayed focused, filming and reassuring his son while managing his own fear.

“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,” Adrián said. After floating in the water for a few seconds, Adrián managed to reach his father’s kayak and was quickly helped. Despite the scare, both returned to shore without injury. 

The Strait of Magellan, located about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) south of Santiago, Chile’s capital, is a major tourist destination known for adventure activities. Its icy waters pose a challenge for sailors, swimmers, and explorers attempting to cross it in various ways.

Although it’s summer in the southern hemisphere, temperatures in the region remain cool, with lows dipping to 39°F (4°C) and highs rarely exceeding 68°F (20°C). While whale attacks on humans are extremely rare in Chilean waters, collisions with cargo ships have caused an increase in whale deaths in recent years, and strandings have become a recurring problem over the last decade.

By Naila Huseynova