When I was a kid we used to get Bible stories at school ..... I doubt that they do that these days, if only for fear of offending a particularly non integrating or accepting group.
..... But one of those tales was of Jonah and the whale. It always seemed a bit improbable, but then I was ever the cynic.
Rainer Schimpf is a South African dive tour operator, who been snorkelling on the surface of the water off South Africa's Port Elizabeth Harbour, while he filmed a sardine run. This is where a combination of gannets, penguins, seals, dolphins, whales and or sharks gather fish into bait balls, and then eat as many of the panicked fish as they can.
However as he was filming, and was concentrating on where the sharks were (as you would do), when a 15 metre, 20 tonne Bryde's whale unexpectedly emerged from the depths with its jaws wide open, engulfing him head first along with a few thousand sardines.
The pressure was on his hips as the whale closed its mouth, and he held his breath .... but then the whale, obviously aware that it had something way too big in its mouth, then spat him back out. Now when you consider that South Africa gets killer whales swimming in some of the waters, I think Mr Schimpf is rather a lucky man.
He later said that the said the experience had made him realise just how small (literally) humans are. "Once you're grabbed by something that's 15 tonnes heavy and very fast in the water, you realise you're actually only that small in the middle of the ocean."
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| Jonah And The Whale As The Bible Recounted It. |
..... But one of those tales was of Jonah and the whale. It always seemed a bit improbable, but then I was ever the cynic.
Rainer Schimpf is a South African dive tour operator, who been snorkelling on the surface of the water off South Africa's Port Elizabeth Harbour, while he filmed a sardine run. This is where a combination of gannets, penguins, seals, dolphins, whales and or sharks gather fish into bait balls, and then eat as many of the panicked fish as they can.
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| Modern Jonah - Rainer Schimpf |
However as he was filming, and was concentrating on where the sharks were (as you would do), when a 15 metre, 20 tonne Bryde's whale unexpectedly emerged from the depths with its jaws wide open, engulfing him head first along with a few thousand sardines.
The pressure was on his hips as the whale closed its mouth, and he held his breath .... but then the whale, obviously aware that it had something way too big in its mouth, then spat him back out. Now when you consider that South Africa gets killer whales swimming in some of the waters, I think Mr Schimpf is rather a lucky man.
He later said that the said the experience had made him realise just how small (literally) humans are. "Once you're grabbed by something that's 15 tonnes heavy and very fast in the water, you realise you're actually only that small in the middle of the ocean."
That's a great photo and a great story. The whale is probably used to other large animals getting out of their way - it didn't count on a clumsy human dressed as a seal!
ReplyDeleteHe was lucky it wasn't a sperm whale or a killer whale ....
DeleteIt would have been more exciting if it had been a Kraken.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I wonder how many humans have ever been attacked by a giant squid? Thanks for the comment ... I will have to look into that.
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