'I thought I was done for': Watch video of humpback whale 'swallow ...

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Watch: Kayaker swallowed and spat out by large whale off Chile coast

A previous version of this video was removed due to a change of rights from the content provider and replaced with a new version.

A humpback whale appeared to "swallow" a kayaker and spit him out last weekend off the coast of southern Chile in a dramatic incident that was caught on camera.

The kayaker, Adrian Simancas, was out on the water with his father off the town of Punta Arenas when the whale surfaced and scooped him in his mouth for a few seconds before releasing him.

"I thought I was done for, that I was dead," Simancas said in a video obtained by USA TODAY. "It was like three strange seconds down there, and now, looking back, I reflect on what mistakes led me there."

"I felt like I was being lifted, but it was clearly too strong to be a wave," said Simancas, according to reporting from Reuters. "When I turned, I felt something blue and white passing close to my face, like on one side and above. I didn't understand what was happening. Then everything... I went under and thought I had been swallowed."

Watch video of whale 'swallowing' kayaker

Simancas was unharmed in the incident, which was caught on video by his father in another kayak.

"I turned on the camera and heard a wave crash behind me, loudly. When I turned, I didn't see anything," said his father, Dell Simancas, according to reporting from Reuters. "So that was the only moment of real fear because I didn't see Adrian for about three seconds. Then he suddenly shot out without the packraft, and a second later, the packraft emerged, and then I saw the fin of something."

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Can humpback whales really swallow people?

Though a humpback can easily fit a human inside its mouth, it is scientifically impossible for the whale to actually swallow a human once inside, according to a 2021 article from National Geographic, citing an interview with Nicola Hodgins of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a UK nonprofit.

A humpback whale's throat is roughly the size of a human fist, and can only stretch to about 15 inches in diameter, according to National Geographic.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Contributing: Reuters

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.