PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — A local lobsterman who survived getting swallowed and spit out by a humpback whale off Cape Cod is the subject of a new documentary that’s slated to be screened Saturday at the 2023 New Hampshire Film Festival.
Michael Packard, of Wellfleet, was out diving for lobsters off Race Point in Provincetown on the morning of June 11, 2021, when he was pulled into the whale’s mouth while it was feeding.
“All of a sudden I felt like I got hit by a freight train and everything went black,” Packard said after the extremely rare encounter. “And it went black and I was like, ‘Oh my God, what the heck? Where am I, did I just get bitten by a great white?’”
Packard said that it took him a moment to figure out what had just happened.
“The only thing it could be is I just got eaten by a whale,” Packard said. “All I thought about was my boys, my two young boys, and my wife and my family.”
After about 30 or 40 seconds, Packard said the humpback spit him out.
“All of a sudden I saw the light, I saw white water, and I saw blue sky,” Packard said. “I could feel the whale just thrashing and he threw me out of his mouth.”
Packard’s tale will be told Saturday when “In the Whale” is shown at the New Hampshire Festival at 7:10 p.m. inside the Music Hall Historic Theater in Portsmouth.
In the Whale, a feature-length documentary film, is directed, produced, and written by David Abel.
“Arguably the greatest fish story ever told, though this one is true. It’s the account of a man who survived to tell the tale of being swallowed by a whale, and what happened after he was spit out,” a description of the film stated.
In The Whale Sizzle from Andy Laub on Vimeo.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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