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'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

capecodtimes.com

81–90 of 170 posts

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Better than being hit by half of a bus”

What if it is a short bus? It's half the size of a bus, yet still a whole bus. The joys of fractions. Half of a short bus would be a passenger van. Still a bus? Half of a passenger van would be a mini-van. Half a mini-van would be a SUV. Half an SUV would be a sedan. Half a sedan would be a mini. Half a mini would be a bicycle. Half a bicycle would be a unicycle. Half a uni would be... Either way, I'd prefer just not…

No, the… the point is encountering something upsetting is upsetting, but encountering it not intact is traumatic.

Half a human swallowed by a whale is body parts. Half a worm in an apple is half a worm in your mouth. Half a bus hitting you implies more than the bus/human collision and some prior trauma experienced by the people in the bus.

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#82
post #75

So a brother and sister claim he got swallowed by a whale and spit out seconds later and we just obviously believe them? Can someone shed more light on what evidence there is or any eyewitnesses attesting that this actually happened and that it isn't a prank by a couple of siblings reliving father Geppetto?

Well, the article says that EMS transported him to the hospital, so it would seem likely that he had something happen to him, or if he'd been completely uninjured it would have raised red-flags either on scene, or later at the hospital. Beyond that, whether or not the event unfolded exactly as he described or not is something that probably only he (and the whale) will ever really know.

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teela Brown from Ringworld. She was the result of a selective breeding program intended to create the luckiest human alive... but it turned out the _real_ lucky ones were all the "failures" who did _not_ get recruited for an impossibly dangerous mission.

Luck seems to me to be a zero sum game, so if someone is lucky, someone else must be unlucky. It's like a new character on What We Do In The Shadows as a luck vampire.

The theme of the movie "Unbreakable" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbreakable_(film)

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The guy was diving, so it’s possible he had an oxygen tank. My guess is that in that case you’re even less likely to go through the animal though.

He had a scuba tank. Most likely filled with air, maybe oxygen enriched air. Pure oxygen is dangerous below about 5 meters.

Woof. I hadn’t even considered, what if the whale dove while you were in it’s mouth before spitting you out! Rapid descent, the bends, oxygen narcosis. Not good! That guys is lucky he was spat out on the surface!

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#85
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Swallowed by a whale? How would you phrase it? "Eaten by a whale?" Is that less victim blame-y? > Shouldn't have been in the ocean. You can swim in the ocean just don't go near where the whales are, it might just help with not becoming a victim of whales' constant eating habit and as a result alleviate the tendency to make greatly exaggerated sarcastic remarks.

It’s not the “swallowed” part. It’s the “bound to happen” part. He didn’t even know the whale was around.

June apparently is the whale watching season in Cape Cod [0]. At least I hope from now on after this "freak accident" people pay a bit more attention and don't confuse things that can swallow them whole with harmless little pets they can cuddle and respect nature and the wild life for what they are. A whale in San Diego Seaworld injures several trainers [1]. A whale kills its trainer [2].

[0] https://candleberryinn.com/whale-watching-brewster-ma/

[1] https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-seaworld-san-diego...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_Brancheau#Death

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He had a scuba tank. Most likely filled with air, maybe oxygen enriched air. Pure oxygen is dangerous below about 5 meters.

Woof. I hadn’t even considered, what if the whale dove while you were in it’s mouth before spitting you out! Rapid descent, the bends, oxygen narcosis. Not good! That guys is lucky he was spat out on the surface!

This is why I only dive in caves.

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#87

"Ten years ago, while traveling in Costa Rica, he was a passenger in a small plane that crashed in the jungle, killing the pilot, co-pilot and a passenger. Packard sustained multiple serious injuries to his abdomen and upper body. The rescuers that found the remaining five passengers after two nights in the jungle said they wouldn’t have survived another night." This guy's luck is clearly maxed out. What a crazy pair…

Joe Simpson: Hold my beer

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#88
post #55
post #50

Never thought I'd see the Cape Cod Times on HN!! The Center For Coastal Studies is a brilliant organization that does great work to defend this big critters, as well as Right Whales. I didn't realize there was still lobster so close to Stelwagon Bank- with the increasing acidity and warming waters folks have had to go closer to Maine for lobster. Anyhoo, humpbacks are our friends and no one should read this as an "at…

I didn't even realize that they were still diving for them. Here in Maine, they trap them. I don't know of anyone that still dives for them and don't think they do it much, if at all, here. (I don't live near the coast, but I do have a 'lobster guy' that hooks me up.)

>I didn't even realize that they were still diving for them. Here in Maine, they trap them.

This sounds like a bit of New England banter. "Here in Maine, we use traps. The troglodites down the cape still dive for them."

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#89
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swimming near whales isn’t unsafe at all. They’re not particularly aggressive, a lone human is too small to worry about, and we operate on completely different sections of the food chain. This was more akin to getting stepped on by a giraffe that didn’t see you there. Total accident.

> Swimming near whales isn’t unsafe at all Ha! "I was completely inside" What else needs to happen for you to think there might be an element of being unsafe? The man was swallowed by a whale, I don't care if whales are aggressive or not, if anything can swallow me whole I consider that a bit unsafe. > This was more akin to getting stepped on by a giraffe that didn’t see you there. So you also consider hanging out ne…

This is like saying people who are attacked by squirrels or crows are to blame for going outside. Did you know there are squirrels and crows outside? Did you read that one article about that one person getting dive bombed by a crow? Obviously you have only yourself to blame if you go outside.

Re: 'I was completely inside': Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale

#90
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's still alive, so it sounds like he's got a little credit left on that account. The big creditor in the sky hasn't declined his charges yet. Remember this guy's name. If you ever meet this guy and he asks if you want to go on a trip with him, I would advise politely declining. You should however, offer to buy him a beer to have him tell his stories.

He is saying his "luck" skill is maxed out, so he is +10 while others could be having a real -10 of it.

maybe he sucks up all the available luck in the area, a kind of luck vampire, and everyone else dies because out of luck!

I'd write the story but evidently we are already background in it.

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