A humpback whale had a close encounter with a kayaker off the coast of Chilean Patagonia, briefly swallowing him and his kayak before releasing them unharmed. The wild moment was caught on camera and quickly went viral.
The incident happened last Saturday in Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro Lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan. Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his dad, Dell, when a massive humpback whale surfaced and engulfed Adrián and his bright yellow kayak for a few seconds. The whale then let go of them just as quickly.
Dell, who was just a few meters away, managed to capture the whole thing on video while trying to keep Adrián calm.
“Stay calm, stay calm,” he can be heard saying, reassuring his son after the whale released him.
Adrián said that he thought he was done for. “I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me,” he said, recalling the “terror” of those brief moments. His real fear, however, hit after he resurfaced — he was worried that the whale might hurt his dad or that he might freeze in the cold waters.
Despite the shock, Dell stayed focused, filming the scene and reassuring his son while also dealing with his own anxiety.
“I was scared something might happen to my father too, that we wouldn’t get to shore in time, or that I’d get hypothermia,” Adrián explained.
After a few tense moments in the water, Adrián made it to his dad’s kayak, and they were both quickly safe onshore, completely unharmed.
The Strait of Magellan, located about 1,600 miles south of Santiago, Chile’s capital, is a popular spot for adventure tourists. But its frigid waters, which can drop to 39°F (4°C) and rarely rise above 68°F (20°C), are a challenge for anyone attempting to navigate or explore them.
While whale attacks on humans are incredibly rare in Chilean waters, collisions between whales and cargo ships have been increasing in recent years, and strandings have become more common over the last decade.
