Michael Packard discusses real-life whale encounter at ‘Whalefall’ screening

Diver Michael Packard recently attended a New York screening of the film ‘Whalefall’, a movie featuring a diver attempting to survive inside a whale. While the film is not directly based on Packard’s life, the parallels to his real-life experience are striking.

In June 2021, while diving for lobsters off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, the 62-year-old Packard was accidentally trapped inside the mouth of a humpback whale for approximately 30 to 45 seconds. He described the sensation as a powerful impact, followed by suffocating pressure against the walls of a massive mouth. He noted that the whale, which feeds on krill and plankton, was likely as disoriented by the encounter as he was.