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Agence France-Presse

Like the Bible’s Jonah, Rainer Schimpf has narrowly survived after being caught in the jaws of a whale.
The 51-year-old marine conservationist was swept into the mouth of a large Bryde’s whale off the coast of the southern South African town of Port Elizabeth while filming a sardine run last month.


“Looming up out of darkness below came a Bryde’s whale shooting up into the ball of fish, gulping all in its path,” he said, adding that his legs were hanging from the mammal’s mouth during the incident at the end of February.
Schimpf’s wife Silke and a photographer watched on in horror from their boat, chartered to watch the famous sardine run which creates a marine feeding frenzy off Africa’s southern coast.
Weird-looking killer whale may be new species. Can you spot the difference?
“I felt some pressure around my waist and I immediately knew what had happened.
“[It] accidentally included me in its mouth together with its main meal – the sardines.”

Schimpf, an award-winning conservationist with 20-years experience, said the ordeal lasted “matter of seconds” – rather than the three nights Jonah spent in a whale’s stomach, according to the Bible story.
“[Then] the whale realised its mistake and opened its mouth releasing me. I was washed out with what felt like tonnes of water from its mouth,” he said.
The last of the whale hunters
Bryde’s whales can weigh up to 30 tonnes and typically eat krill and small fish.
When he finally reached the surface he took a breath and rejoined his fellow snorkellers.

“We swam back to the vessel, climbed up and checked if I and the camera were OK – no broken bones, no cracked ribs – so all was good,” he said.
Japanese whalers insist hunting is ‘way of life’ after treaty withdrawal
“Pumped up with adrenaline and not wanting to miss the bait ball action, I went back into the sea, this time looking for sharks,” he added with a smile.
Schimpf has extensively documented Orcas killing dolphins and their hunting behaviour.
He is also an authority on sardine tracking and the predators that follow the sardine runs.

In the Bible story, Jonah goes against God’s will and is swallowed whole by a whale in a storm – but is returned to the land unscathed when he repents his sins.
Even Japan’s own whalers are unhappy with plans to resume hunts
Schimpf remains undeterred following his narrow escape, saying that “if I was to be reborn, I would like to come back as a whale”.


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Offbeat

Whale nearly swallows South African conservationist Rainer Schimpf in this terrifying moment caught on video

Rainer Schimpf disappears in the jaws of a Bryde’s whale off South Africa, in a frightening moment caught on video. Photo: Barcroft Animals / YouTube

Rainer Schimpf (in black wetsuit) surfaces after being released from the jaws of a Bryde's whale off South Africa. Photo: Barcroft Animals / YouTube

Bryde's whales feed on sardines off South Africa. Photo: Barcroft Animals / YouTube

A fellow snorkeller (left) looks on as a whale with Rainer Schimpf grasped in its jaws begins to dive off South Africa. Photo: Barcroft Animals / YouTube

This weird-looking killer whale is a new species, experts say. Can you spot the difference?

Beached Type D orcas on a beach in New Zealand in 1955. Photo: Orca Research Trust Archives / Te Papa Museum

This photo provided by Paul Tixier shows a Type D killer whale. Scientists are waiting for test results from a tissue sample, which could give them the DNA evidence to prove the new type is a distinct species. Photo: Paul Tixier via AP

The last whale hunters: traditions of Indonesian tribe under threat from modernity

A lamafa, or harpooner, leaps towards a dolphin, off the coast of Lamalera, Indonesia. Picture Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Men work on a dead whale, at Lamalera, Indonesia, on August 26, 2015.  26MAY15

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Author Doug Bock Clark, with a whale in the background, at Lamalera, Indonesia, on April 29, 2016.  29APR16

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

A whale flicks its tail infront of a wooden whaling boat at Lamalera, Indonesia, on May 26, 2015.  26MAY15

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Ignatius Seran Blikololong, onboard a  tena, a majestic 35-foot-long wooden whaling boat, at sea, at Lamalera, Indonesia, on December 14, 2014.  14DEC14

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Hunters forge their own harpoon heads  at Lamalera, Indonesia, on December 20, 2014.  20DEC14

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Children practise to become a Lafama (Harpooner) at Lamalera, Indonesia, on May 26, 2015.  26MAY15

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--
  
Ben Blikololong, son of Ignatius Seran Blikololong, an expert harpooner, at Lamalera, Indonesia. Ben has since died, after his leg was caught in the harpoon rope and pulled overboard whilst harpooning a ray. 25MAY15

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Boys ride onto of a dead whale, at Lamalera, Indonesia, on April 30, 2016.  30APR16

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--

Men sail their tena, 35-foot-long wooden whaling boats, at sunset, at sea off Lamalera, Indonesia, on December 21, 2014.  21DEC14

[03MARCH2019 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

CREDIT: Doug Bock Clark

A lamafa, or harpooner, leaps towards a dolphin, at Lamalera, Indonesia. Picture Doug Bock Clark

Japanese whalers insist hunting is ‘way of life’ and welcome controversial withdrawal from international treaty

Fishermen dissecting a Baird’s beaked whale at WADA port in Minamiboso. Photo: AFP

This picture taken on January 17, 2019 shows workers for Japanese whaling company Gaibo Hogei sunning sliced raw whale meat on the company's roof in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture. - Japan sparked outrage in December 2018 when it decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, saying it would return to commercial whaling as part of its cultural heritage. Rarely is that heritage more in evidence that in Minamiboso, a town on the Pacific coast some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Tokyo, that is home to Gaibo Hogei, one of a handful of remaining local whaling companies. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

This picture taken on July 12, 2004 shows fishermen dissecting a Baird's beaked whale at Wada port in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture. - Japan sparked outrage in December 2018 when it decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, saying it would return to commercial whaling as part of its cultural heritage. Rarely is that heritage more in evidence that in Minamiboso, a town on the Pacific coast some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Tokyo, that is home to Gaibo Hogei, one of a handful of remaining local whaling companies. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Even Japanese whalers are unhappy with the country’s plans to resume commercial hunts

A humpback whale off the coast of Australia. Photo: AFP

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters during his post-Cabinet press conference in the Beehive Theatrette, Parliament, Wellington. 24 September 2018 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Mark Mitchell.

When killer whale ‘Suzy Wong’ was a star attraction at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park

Hoi Wai performs at Ocean Park in 1989. Picture: SCMP

A killer whale from England is released in a water tank at Ocean Park. 29JAN79

News

World

The Bryde’s whale engulfed Rainer Schimpf while he was filming a school of sardines off South Africa
His legs were dangling out of the whale’s mouth as it dived, but he was fortunately released in a matter of seconds


The Bryde’s whale engulfed Rainer Schimpf while he was filming a school of sardines off South Africa.


Conservation

South Africa

Africa