Man Swallowed Whole By Humpback Whale Miraculously Survives

After an animal attack in June 2021, a man from Provincetown is very lucky to be alive. Those who learned about his experience find it miraculous that he survived the ordeal.

Michael Packard is a licensed commercial lobster diver. On a Friday morning in June, he went diving near Herring Cove Beach for his second trip of the day. The 56-year-old was about 10 feet from the bottom when something really scary and unexpected happened.

Sharing his experience after just being released from the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Packard said, “All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove, and the next thing I knew it was completely black. I could sense I was moving, and I could feel the whale squeezing with the muscles in his mouth.”

His experience sounds like it could be a scene in an action movie. He was lucky because it was a humpback whale and not a great white shark. He said, “I was completely inside; it was completely black. 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.”

Humpback whales are known as “gentle giants.” They don’t usually like to eat people. So what happened? How come Packard ended up inside this huge fish?

He shared, “I saw light, and he started throwing his head side to side, and the next thing I knew I was outside (in the water). I saw light, and he started throwing his head side to side, and the next thing I knew I was outside [in the water].”

Packard says that he was inside the whale for 30 to 40 seconds. He started to fight as hard as he could to survive. After what seemed like forever, the whale finally came to the surface. Packard was lucky that he didn’t get hurt badly during this ordeal. He only got small cuts and bruises and nothing serious.

As a competent diver, Packard knew exactly what he was doing. Even though it was scary, he was aware that humpback whales aren’t harmful to humans or other marine life. That experience did not stop him from going back to the water. As soon as he got better, he wanted to go back diving again.

Dr. Iain Ker, an expert on the whales in that area who has been studying them for many years, thinks it was probably equally alarmed as Packard. The marine biologist explained, “I’ve been in this business for 30 years. And this is the second time I’ve heard of it happening.”

He added that Packard and other divers frequent the area because it’s brimming with marine life. He said, “It’s a highly productive area. Basically, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Even though this is a scary situation, Packard has been through much worse. The strong current that took him out to sea and made him tread water for hours before he was saved turned out to be a good thing for him.

When he was on vacation in Costa Rica 10 years ago, his plane had to make an emergency landing and he had to spend two nights in the woods. This is just another great story that Packard could tell because he had survived it all.