‘Oh my God I’m in a whale’s mouth’: Massachusetts man tells of surviving humpback encounter

A Massachusetts man recounted the harrowing tale of finding himself inside of a whale.

"In what is an exceedingly rare incident, a commercial lobster diver was seriously injured Friday morning when he was caught in the mouth of a humpback whale feeding off Race Point, his sister said. Michael Packard, 56, of Wellfleet, is in stable condition at Cape Cod Hospital with at least one broken leg, Cynthia Packard said," the Cape Code Timesreported.

"Commercial lobster divers are a tough breed. They brave the cold waters off Provincetown to grab migrating lobsters off a sandy shelf when they emerge from an adjacent deep channel and pause to acclimate to the somewhat warmer water," the newspaper noted. "The crewman topside follows the bubbles of the diver below as he or she drifts with the strong current. It's a spot that is fraught with danger and commercial lobster divers have seen more than their share of close calls and tragedy."

Michael Packard told WBZ-TV he "felt this huge bump and everything went dark."

"And then I felt around and I realized there was no teeth," he explained. "And then I realized, 'Oh my God I'm in a whale's mouth. . . and he's trying to swallow me.'"

"Then all of a sudden he went up to the surface and just erupted and started shaking his head. I just got thrown in the air and landed in the water," he said. "I was free and I just floated there. I couldn't believe. . . I'm here to tell it."

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