Photographer Rainer Schimpf experienced his own Jonah-like moment off the coast of South Africa recently.
“It was going for the fish, and I happened to be in the wrong spot. I was collateral damage, and I’m sure it was as frightening for the whale as it was for me,” Schimpf says.
He was capturing photos underwater when he says he felt something tug at his hip.
“Nothing can prepare you for when you end up inside the whale,” Schimpf says.
But it appears Schimpf wasn’t fleeing the call of God on his life when the marine mammal caught up with him.
“I was just holding myself and bracing myself and calming myself down not to be panicked, and it worked out,” he said. “He spat me out, and everybody’s happy.”
Watch the video to hear him recount the incident.