- Animals
- Explainer
Humpback whales can’t swallow a human. Here’s why.
Despite occasional reports of whales scooping people into their mouths, it’s incredibly rare—and for all but one species, swallowing a human is physically impossible.
On Friday, a lobster diver made headlines when he described miraculously surviving being “swallowed” by a humpback whale off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Michael Packard told the Cape Cod Times that he felt a shove, and “the next thing I knew it was completely black.” He recalled struggling inside the whale’s mouth for about 30 seconds before it surfaced and spat him out.
Though a humpback could easily fit a human inside its huge mouth—which can reach around 10 feet—it’s scientifically impossible for the whale to swallow a human once inside, according to Nicola Hodgins of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a U.K. nonprofit.
A humpback’s throat is roughly the size of a human fist,
