You can barely open your eyes. You're surrounded by darkness, dampness, and a terrible smell. Trying to figure out your situation by touch, you discover that the walls surrounding you are covered with some kind of slime and goo, and they breathe as if they are alive. It's strange because just an hour ago, you were on a yacht coursing through the open ocean, wind blowing in your hair. Is it possible you suffered a shipwreck? Perhaps your drowning body became a victim of a sea monster?
Yes, that's exactly right. The slippery, slimy barrier around you is the wall of a whale's stomach. But is there any chance for survival or escape? First, we need to determine whether it's even possible for a whale to swallow a fully grown adult human being. According to experts, it's conceivable that something like a blue whale from the baleen subspecies could easily engulf a human whole. The baleen is one of the largest creatures to have ever lived on Earth over the entire multi-billion-year history of life on our planet. Interestingly, the baleen whale has no teeth, so it won't chew you up before attempting to swallow you. Most dinosaurs don't even come close to the size of this sea giant, as some baleen whales, which are mammals like you and me, can reach 115 feet (35 meters) in length and weigh up to 380,000 pounds (173 metric tons). To put those numbers into perspective, that's equivalent to about 40 African elephants.
Just the tongue of a baleen whale alone often weighs as much as three tons, and its heart is larger than a golf cart. This massive creature can fit up to 90 tons of food and water in its mouth at once and can suck up to 11,000 pounds (500 kilograms) of plankton in a single slurp. With such parameters, this whale's mouth could fit not only you but also half the passengers from a ship like the Titanic. However, the swallowing act ends there. A human body cannot advance further than the entrance to the whale's throat. In fact, the creature has a throat no bigger than the diameter of a golf ball and literally cannot swallow anything larger than a grapefruit. It's unlikely to ever be interested in something as large as a human for lunch, as its digestive tract is designed for much smaller prey.
However, if one day you find yourself on a doomed sea voyage and end up in the mouth of a blue whale, the experience would surely be unforgettable. You would fall into total darkness, floundering among countless small fish and plankton as the whale prepares for lunch. After filtering out the water, you would find yourself in a viscous soup of tiny creatures. As previously mentioned, you simply wouldn't fit into the whale's throat. According to Phillip Mata, a researcher at the University of South Florida, the whale would likely just spit you out as if you were a cherry stone.
Even if you survive being spat out, salvation would still be far away. Whales can dive as far as 650 feet (200 meters) below sea level after eating, and without diving equipment, you would likely drown at that depth. However, whales more commonly digest food at a depth of around 65 feet (20 meters), giving you a fighting chance to reach the surface if you struggle with all your might. The whale might even assist you with a farewell slap of its powerful tail fin.
Falling into the jaws of a toothed whale like an orca or sperm whale presents a much grimmer scenario. Many of these animals are extraordinarily large, with sperm whales reaching up to 65 feet (20 meters) in length and weighing as much as 110,000 pounds (50 metric tons). Their lower jaws can open 90 degrees, and their throats are much larger, capable of swallowing large prey. Unlike baleen whales, toothed whales have sharp, steak-knife-sized teeth, posing a significant danger. On the way in, you could suffer ghastly wounds or injuries, as evidenced by historical accounts where whalers lost limbs or even their heads due to these terrifying incisors.
If you manage to avoid being torn apart, you would be swallowed whole, landing in the pitch-dark gastric sac of the whale's stomach. The whale has four stomach chambers, much like a cow, and you would be in the first one. Here, your body would begin to disintegrate, dissolved by hydrochloric acid and other digestive juices. Suffocation would soon follow, as there is no air in the stomach. While whales do have gas pockets in their intestines, they are filled with methane and not suitable for breathing.
There are numerous stories online claiming successful journeys through a whale's stomach, but most experts dismiss these as myths designed to attract attention. However, there are some historical cases that seem to support the possibility. In 1896, the New York Times reported on a whaling expedition near the Falkland Islands where a sailor named James Bartley was swallowed by a sperm whale. The whale was harpooned and eventually died from its injuries. Upon cutting open its stomach, the crew found Bartley alive but unconscious after spending nearly 16 hours inside. His face and hands were pale from the gastric juices, and he was in a state of near insanity for weeks. Despite the trauma, he eventually recovered, though his pale skin remained a permanent reminder of his ordeal.
Another similar case was documented in 1771 when a sperm whale bit a whaler's boat in half and swallowed one of the sailors. The whale later surfaced and spat the sailor out, who, although badly scratched, survived without serious injuries.
If you ever find yourself in a whale's stomach, the first thing you must do is not panic. The oxygen supply will be minimal, and every movement you make will deplete it further. Identifying the type of whale will be nearly impossible from the inside, but since hydrochloric acid is present, you must try to escape quickly. In a blue whale, you would need to be as small as a tennis ball to exit the throat, which is, of course, impossible. However, if it's a sperm whale, you might be able to escape through its mouth, though you would have to pass its razor-sharp teeth again.
So, your chances of surviving being swallowed by a whale are pitifully minuscule. While historical accounts like those of James Bartley are fascinating, the reality is that such an encounter would likely be fatal. Still, the mysteries of the deep continue to captivate our imaginations with tales of survival and the monstrous leviathans lurking beneath the waves.
So, what do you think about it?