Rainer
Schimpf got swept into the mouth of a Bryde’s whale off coast of Port Elizabeth
Agence
France-Presse
Mon 11
Mar 2019 15.58 GMTLast modified on Mon 11 Mar
2019 16.02 GMT
Like the
Bible’s Jonah, a South African marine conservationist has narrowly survived
after being caught in the jaws of a whale.
Rainer
Schimpf, 51, was swept into the mouth of a large Bryde’s whale off the coast of
the South African town of Port Elizabeth while snorkelling and filming a
sardine run last month.
“Looming
up out of darkness below came a Bryde’s whale shooting up into the ball of
fish, gulping all in its path,” he told AFP, adding that his legs were hanging
from the mammal’s mouth during the incident at the end of February.
Schimpf’s
wife, Silke, and a photographer watched on in horror from their boat, chartered
to watch the sardine run, which creates a marine feeding frenzy off Africa’s
southern coast.
“I felt
some pressure around my waist and I immediately knew what had happened. [It]
accidentally included me in its mouth together with its main meal – the
sardines.”
Schimpf,
an award-winning conservationist with 20 years’ experience, said the ordeal
lasted a “matter of seconds” – rather than the three nights Jonah spent in a
whale’s stomach, according to the Bible story.
“[Then] the whale realised its mistake and
opened its mouth, releasing me. I was washed out with what felt like tonnes of
water from its mouth,” he said.
When he
finally reached the surface he took a breath and rejoined his fellow snorkelers
who were unaware of the unfolding drama.
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