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Lobster diver injured when caught in whale's mouth

humpback whale
Posted at 6:23 PM, Jun 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-11 20:23:32-04

BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) — A commercial lobster diver who got caught in the mouth of a humpback whale off Cape Cod in Massachusetts says he thought he was going to die.

Michael Packard tells WBZ-TV after he was released from the hospital on Friday that he was about 45 feet deep off Provincetown when he felt a bump and everything went dark.

He thought he had been attacked by a shark, then realized it was a whale. After about 30 seconds, the whale surfaced and spit him out.

His sister originally told the Cape Cod Times that her brother broke a leg, but he said later that his legs are just bruised.

Humpbacks are not aggressive and a whale expert says it was probably an accidental encounter while the whale was feeding on fish.