Massachusetts lobster diver says he was nearly swallowed by a whale

STATEN ISLAND, New York (Staten Island Advance/TNS) – What do Jonah, Pinnochio, Marlon and Dory from Finding Nemo, and Michael Packard all have in common? Being swallowed by a whale.

But Packard says his whale encounter happened in real life.

The veteran lobster diver was near Herring Cove Beach off the coast of Provincetown, Mass., at approximately 8 a.m., Friday morning when he says he was suddenly gulped up by a humpback whale, the reported.

“All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove and the next thing I knew it was completely black,” Packard told the outlet. “I though 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.”

After what he estimated to be 30 or 40 seconds, the whale surfaced and spit Packard out and back into the water, according to the report.

Surviving with soft tissue damage but no broken bones, Packard was released from the Cape Cod Hospital on Friday afternoon.