Whale swallows man, later spits out

The US lobsterman has described his highly unusual encounter, saying he thought he was going to die when he was swallowed whole by a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Friday morning.

The man thought he had been attacked by a shark, but realized he was in a whale's mouth.

Michael Packard said he was diving when he ended up in the marine giant's mouth

"A humpback whale tried to eat me...I am very bruised up but have no broken bones," wrote Packard.

Packard’s job is to pluck lobsters off the sandy bottom and he was doing his job about 45 deep in waters.

He suddenly felt a huge bump, and everything went dark.

In an interview with a local media outlet, he stated “I realized, ‘Oh my God I’m in a whale’s mouth...and he’s trying to swallow me”.

He thought about his kids and wife and told himself, “This is it, I’m gonna die”.