Whale encounters don’t come more up close and personal than the one experienced by Port Elizabeth-based dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf.

Whilst taking tourists whale-watching in Algoa Bay, Rainer ended up in the mouth of a Bryde’s whale, which was going for a sardine bait ball.

Rainer was actually inside the mouth of the whale for a few seconds, before he was spat out like cheap wine.

A video segment from Barcroft Animals is nearing three million views in just four days, and covers most of the basics.

Yes, there are plenty of ‘Jonas and the Whale’ jokes to be made here, but we’ll avoid those, thanks:

I reckon the whale was just as shocked as Rainer.

All’s well that ends well – much like those Sea Point kayakers we showed you two weeks back, he’ll have a great story to tell.

[source:timeslive]