What If You Were Swallowed by a Whale?

Close calls with whales happen more often than you might expect. And although the people in these videos got away relatively unscathed, there's no denying that they were just meters away from becoming a whale's lunch. But what would happen if they hadn't been so lucky? Could a human body survive being swallowed by a whale? Has it ever happened before?

Watch more what-if scenarios:

What If elsewhere:

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere." — Carl Sagan

What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. Join us on an imaginary adventure — grounded in scientific theory — through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different.

[joshuasamsonjohnson-]

*Top 3 unsolved cases* :

*1* :     *Area 51 Aliens*
*2* :     *Bermuda Triangle*
*3* :     *YT Recommendations*

[leanne]

this literally gave me so much anxiety.

[shawnamckittrick]

imagine being swallowed by a whale and meeting a bunch of people down there.

[TheAviationChannel]

0:37 - "Has it ever happened before?"

*YES. That's why I'm even here*

[Hunchomuncho]

Youtube: "What If You Were Swallowed by a Whale?"
Me:
Me: this could happen to me I have to watch it

[sjhddhdhs]

My common sense: this won't happen, tf you clicking for?
My anxiety: *but what if*

[chichan]

Imagine if you really get swallowed, you have a knife with you, but when you opened your way out, the whale was actually so deep in the ocean. Scary!

[rxuent]

“Mom I'm Inside A Whale”
“Okay, Get Home By 10”

[PatrikUTD]

Quarantine day 1: I will be exercising, reading books and eating healthier


Day 64: What If You Were Swallowed by a Whale

[David-mcpt]

I used to think that u can just live in their stomach forever because of the cartoon flapjack

[anonymousblank]

Me: I'm not gonna let my anxiety get the best of me today

Anxiety: What if you were swallowed by a whale tho

[Talkingperfectly-loud]

First, the close calls at the beginning of the video are with Humpback whales, whose esophagus is far too small to swallow a human. If any of the whales at the beginning of the video HAD swallowed someone by mistake, they would have just been spat back out. Second, while sperm whales could physically swallow a human, they are deep-water hunters, diving up to 1200 meters below the surface to hunt for food. They would most likely not be interested in you at the surface. Also, you kept talking about sperm whales while constantly showing videos of Humpback whales. Finally, Humpback whales, again, the whale that could ACTUALLY accidentally swallow you, do not have teeth. They are baleen whales, and have modified teeth that form thick mats of course bristles to filter water. You could get scraped up for sure, but never lacerated. For a “science” video this was massively disappointing.

[sulfurx]

Short answer: You’d die.

Long answer:

[sleepyy]

Me: *needs to sleep*
YouTube: what if-

[saschaflack]

*Great, another unrealistic fear to add to my list :)*

[GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

How about: What If You Could Stop Time For Yourself For 1, 000, 000 Years? What if you could bring time to a stop so everything stands still except for you, and you could do so for a million years? What would you do for those million years? Clean up the environment? Etc...

[larshoffmeister]

You get digested. What a surprise. Why am i even watching this?

[excusesexcuses]

You Tubers in 2050:



"I spent 24 hours inside a whale"

[divteshsingh]

Quarantine Day 1: I am going to be productive.

Quarantine Day 7: "Your skeleton will be ejected through the whale's anus."

[Deebarca]

"has it ever happened before??"
Jonah from the bible : am I a joke to u?