Michael Packard got caught in the mouth of a humpback whale for 30-40 seconds before escaping (Photo Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
© Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty ImagesMichael Packard got caught in the mouth of a humpback whale for 30-40 seconds before escaping
A US lobster diver thought he was going to die after getting caught in the mouth of a humpback whale before it surfaced and spat him out.

Michael Packard, 56, was diving off Cape Cod in Massachusetts on Friday and about 45ft below the surface when he found himself inside the closed mouth of the giant creature.

He spent 30-40 seconds inside it before escaping "very bruised" but otherwise unharmed.

Describing the terrifying ordeal the diver said he "felt this huge bump, and everything went dark" and initially thought he'd been attacked by a shark but then realised he couldn't feel teeth.

It then dawned on him he was in a whale's mouth. He told the Cape Cod Times: "I was completely inside; it was completely black.


"I could sense I was moving, and I could feel the whale squeezing with the muscles in his mouth.

"I thought to myself, 'there's no way I'm getting out of here. I'm done, I'm dead', All I could think of was my boys - they're 12 and 15 years old."

The dad, who was able to breathe thanks to his diving equipment, said the whale began shaking its head as he struggled inside it before it headed to the surface and released him.

He said: "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.

"I was free and I just floated there. I couldn't believe it... I'm here to tell it."

The diver was rescued by his crewmate from their boat and taken for treatment at Cape Cod hospital.

Mr Packard, from Wellfleet, Massachusetts, later posted a statement on Facebook saying: "Hi everyone. I just want to clarify what happened to me today. I was lobster diving and a humpback whale tried to eat me.

"I was in his closed mouth for about 30 to 40 seconds before he rose to the surface and spit me out.

"I am very bruised up but have no broken bones. I want to thank the Provincetown rescue squad for their caring and help."

His sister Cynthia had originally reported her brother had broke a leg.

Humpback whales can grow to as long as 50ft (15m) and weigh about 36 tons.

Local expert Jooke Robbins, of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, told the paper the creatures are not aggressive, particularly to humans, and it was most likely a mistake by a juvenile feeding on sand lance.

He said: "Based on what was described, this would have to be a mistake and an accident on the part of the humpback.

"It is not something I have heard happening before. So many things would have had to happen to end up in the path of a feeding whale."