Stories
Can You Survive Being Swallowed By A Whale? The Truth Behind Whalefall
- •The new Hollywood survival thriller Whalefall stars Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, following a scuba diver trapped inside a sperm whale.
- •Based on Daniel Kraus's 2023 novel, the film depicts a fictional scenario where a diver searches for his late father's remains.
- •Whale scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta notes that while a human could theoretically fit into a sperm whale's throat, surviving the depth and conditions is practically impossible.
- •Real-life incidents involving divers briefly engulfed in whale mouths have occurred, such as Michael Packard in 2021, but no one has ever survived being swallowed into a stomach.
Key Questions Answered
Whalefall follows Jay Gardiner, a scuba diver who ventures into the Pacific Ocean off California to search for his late father's remains and gets swallowed by a sperm whale. Trapped inside with only an hour of oxygen, Jay must find a way to escape while coming to terms with his father's death.
No, Whalefall is a fictional story based on Daniel Kraus's 2023 novel of the same name rather than a direct retelling of a documented incident. However, real-life incidents have occurred where people were briefly engulfed by whales and survived, such as lobster diver Michael Packard in 2021.
According to whale scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a human could potentially pass down the throat of a sperm whale, but humans are not part of a whale's natural diet. Furthermore, a human would likely be dead and implode by the time they reached that depth.
