A lobster diver claims that he was swallowed and spat out by a humpback whale.
According to BBC News, fisherman Michael Packard says that he was diving off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, when the marine mammal swam up to him and took him into its mouth for 30-40 seconds.
Amazingly, despite being swallowed whole by the underwater behemoth, the 56-year-old was only left with a dislocated knee after being spat out by the animal.
According to the WWF, humpback whales can grow up to 50ft (15m) in length and weigh about 36 tons (72,000lbs).
In a later interview with WBZ-TV News, Packard stated that he and his crewmate, captain Joe Francis, took their boat, the Ja'n J, on a voyage off Herring Cove on Friday morning with water visibility at about 20ft.
Packard stated that after donning his scuba gear and jumping into the water, he felt "this huge bump and everything went dark."
After initially believing that he had been bitten by a shark, Packard said: "Then I felt around, and I realized there was no teeth and I had felt, really, no great pain."
He continued: "I realized: 'Oh my God, I'm in a whale's mouth and he's trying to swallow me. This is it, I'm going die'."
Revealing what he was thinking while in the whale's mouth, Packard said: "One of the things that went through my mind was just, 'Oh, my God, what if he does swallow me, and here I am, I'm breathing air, and I'm going to breathe in this whale's mouth until my air runs out?'"
"Then all of a sudden he went up to the surface and just erupted and started shaking his head," Packard revealed. "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."
Meanwhile, Packard's crewmate had been desperately scanning the surface of the sea to try to locate him. When Captain Francis spotted the bubbles from Packard's oxygen respirator, he managed to find him again and hauled him back into their boat.
Francis later told WBZ-TV News: "I saw Mike come flying out of the water feet first with his flippers on and land back in the water.
"I jumped aboard the boat. We got him up, got his tank off. Got him on the deck and calmed him down and he goes: 'Joe, I was in the mouth of a whale.' He goes: ‘I can’t believe it, I was in the mouth of a whale Joe!'"
Having survived his ordeal, the real-life Jonah was then taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where his injured leg was treated by medics.
