PROVINCETOWN – Commercial lobster diver Michael Packard is in the hospital after being injured when he was caught in the mouth of a humpback whale off the coast of Provincetown.
The event occurred Friday morning.
“This whale was probably feeding and made a major mistake. And to project to that, probably wishes it hadn’t,” said Senior Scientist and whale expert with the Center for Coastal Studies Charles “Stormy” Mayo.
He said that this is an extremely rare event.
“This was just a chance occurrence, and an extraordinarily rare one,” said Mayo.
“Luckily it turned out well. But I think that this whale just made a mistake, as some wildlife does, and came up with a mouthful of human being. But both of them parted company fairly happily.”
Mayo said that humans have little to fear from humpback whales, who primarily filter-feed on plankton and occasionally small fish.
He said that most whales in Cape Cod Bay lack teeth, and have no intention of making a meal out of humans.
Packard said in a social media post that he is badly bruised after his 30 to 40 second encounter with the whale, but has no other injuries.
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