Is this just an urban myth, or could you live if you were swallowed up whole? If you can, how long would you last, and would there be a chance of getting out alive, say, by excretion?
2006-09-29 09:41:55 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
While sperm whales could swallow a man whole (they eat squid whole, in one documented case a 405 pound squid was found in the stomach of a sperm whale), there evidence that the following story is genuine is somewhat unreliable, but noone knows for certain:
The fisherman mentioned in an earlier answer is James Bartley. As claimed in numerous religious tracts, whaling books, and the like, Bartley was a seaman aboard the whaling ship Star of the East. In February 1891, while the ship was near the Falkland Islands, a lookout spotted a sperm whale several miles off. Two boats were launched; one succeeded in harpooning the whale, but the second was upended by the whale's tail and its crew tossed into the water. One man drowned and another, Bartley, could not be found.
The whale was killed and hauled to the side of the ship, where the crew set to work carving up the carcass. The next morning they hoisted the stomach on deck and were surprised to see signs of life. Inside they found the unconscious Bartley, who they doused with seawater and soon revived. For two weeks he was a raving lunatic, but by the end of the third week he'd fully recovered. Bartley recalled being swallowed by a great darkness, then slipping along a smooth passage until he came to a larger space. He felt slimy stuff around him and realized he'd been swallowed by the whale. He could breathe, but the heat sucked the energy out of him and eventually he passed out. The only lasting effect of the incident was that the skin of his face, neck, and hands was bleached to the color of parchment by the whale's gastric juices.
2006-09-29 11:31:52 · answer #1 · answered by biogirl 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most whales have Baleen plates which sift their food (mostly plankton), so it would be impossible to be swallowed by one. Toothed whales such as the Sperm whale ( the world's largest predator) feeds on squid and if you weren't chewed up and managed to be swallowed whole (impossible) you wou be slowly digested by its gastric acids or vommited out. Also in the Bible Jonah wasn't swallowed by a Whale. It actuall says that he was eaten by a great fish.
2006-09-29 10:00:12 · answer #2 · answered by Quizard 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe there was a case of a fisherman who had been swallowed by a whale and had survived long enough to be regurgitated. He had also been bleached almost bone white as the digestive processes had attacked his flesh.
I don't know about you, but it smells a bit fishy to me.
2006-09-29 11:07:18 · answer #3 · answered by markspanishfly 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you'd suffocate first then get dissolved by stomach acid then hang around in the intestines for a day or so then end up as excrement on the bottom of the ocean. You'd only be identifiable by your dental records.
2006-09-29 09:59:55 · answer #4 · answered by DeborahDel 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no. like a human stomach, a whale's will contain acids and enzymes that would kill you. plus you'd probably drown before that even happened
2006-09-29 09:49:27 · answer #5 · answered by ministe2003 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nobody can. The acid will kill anybody before tha mash up
http://www.skillipedia.com
2006-09-29 09:51:57 · answer #6 · answered by ? 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ask Jonah
2006-09-29 09:44:24 · answer #7 · answered by alanc_59 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I've survived for 46 years with a Moby Dick!
2006-09-29 10:23:46 · answer #8 · answered by David R 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
...have you been watching disney's Pinocchio? I THINK YOU HAVE ^_^ umm....well..i couldnt answer from experience, unfortunatly :| but im assuming that it COULD be possible...but not. why dont you try :D
2006-09-29 09:50:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes but be sure to take a raft in with you
2006-09-29 10:14:41 · answer #10 · answered by wheels 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋