Morning Bulletin 30 Jun 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54745997
Lucky James Bartley. Fell into the sea and was swallowed by the very whale they were battling. Not only that, he managed to survive intact, and, although bleached, and despite having a mental breakdown for the first two weeks, managed to resume normal life. I wonder if he ever went out whaling again?
I wonder what the gastric juices of a whale would to the delicate bits of a human? You know, respiratory tract, eyes etc. His brief sojourn to the interior bleached his skin permanently, but otherwise his health was unaffected. Hmmmm…. I never realized a whales insides were so airy either. Perhaps the innards were pierced by the harpoon?
Despite the seriousness with which the many reports of this story from 1891 are written, it is hardly surprising that I am having trouble with it. Please feel free to share some facts that show me I am wrong in doubting it though!
Buried words and Bushwa. 
Don’t know how I missed this one but better late than never 🙂 I’m with you Metan. Even if a whale swallowed a hell of a lot of air into its stomach how long would that last when it’s underwater for ages? And surely it would burp?
I would love to think this is a true story but it reeks of urban legend doesn’t it? The only thing that rings true is the mental breakdown part. I don’t think that surviving being on the inside of any creature would be something you would want in your head!
lmao – and just imagine if you tried to drop it into a cocktail conversation – “And what did you do last weekend?” “oh, nothing much. Got swallowed by a whale, turned white, you know, just a boring old weekend” 😀