For the most part whales are not able to swallow people.

In fact most species of whale have throats that are far too small to be able to swallow an adult, so they wouldn’t be able to swallow a person if they tried.

Most whales are also not equipped with teeth designed to tear apart tough flesh and bone, which would be necessary for breaking down the parts of large mammals such as humans, and some species don’t possess any teeth at all.

All species of baleen whale for example do not possess teeth; instead they have baleen plates that are designed to capture very small prey and many of the toothed whale family are composed of smaller whales, dolphins and porpoises that lack the type of teeth, anatomical features, hunting behavior, diet and personality necessary to hunt and kill other marine mammals.

For most of these marine mammals small fish, squid, octopus, krill and various crustaceans make up the basis of their diet.

While most whales aren’t able to swallow people there is however one species of whale that may be able swallow a human under the right circumstances.

This whale is known as the sperm whale.

Unlike most species of whale sperm whales have a relatively large throat which is designed to allow it to consume large prey such as giant squid.

While these whales do have large throats that would make it easier to swallow a human most of their hunting takes place several miles below the sea, up to 3,000 ft., which is much deeper than a human is able to swim.

In fact most hunting takes place so far under the ocean that it has been difficult for scientists and marine biologists to study the hunting methods of sperm whales, even with advanced technology.

This makes the likelihood of a sperm whale consuming a human extremely unlikely.

In fact there has never been a recorded case of a sperm whale or any other whale actually consuming a human.

Aside from the sperm whale the killer whale (the largest of the dolphin species) also possesses the ability to consume humans, since they have teeth that are designed for tearing apart the flesh of mammals.

These dolphins are known for, consuming the flesh of marine animals such as marine birds, seals, sea otters, polar bears and whales.

While they have sharp teeth that could easily be used to break apart human flesh these dolphins have never shown a desire to eat humans and thus aren’t likely to try to consume a person.

While there have been rare cases of killer whales occasionally attacking humans this is rare and these attacks are often caused due to the dolphin feeling threatened or becoming aggressive due to being isolated from their natural habitat for extended amounts of time.

While these rare situations have happened killer whales have never been interested in actually eating or consuming a person, instead they would grab onto the persons limbs, hair or clothing and pull them under the water.

It is believed that this may not always be an aggressive act either as the killer whale may have thought that the person would not drown underwater, at least not so quickly.

It is always suggested that people take extreme caution when around these marine mammals, especially if there is no trainer around.

Potential threats to humans

While humans may be at little risk of being attacked or eaten by a whale there are a number of threats that humans may face when in close contact with these large marine mammals.

Fortunately for the most part injuries or deaths in regards to whales harming humans is extremely low and very few incidents have been recorded regarding humans being harmed by whales, however these possibilities do exist, so we’ll briefly explore these potential hazards.

Some of these potential hazards a person may face when in close contact with a whale include:

Collisions with boats

Hard physical contact with unprotected humans

Being pulled underwater

Being injured or crushed in the whales mouth (no records to our knowledge indicate this ever happening)

While rare it is possible that a small boat or yacht may collide with a whale (or vice versa) causing the boat to sustain damage, collapse or tip over.

In fact there have been numerous instances of boats (up to 50 ft. long) being struck and taken down by large whales that breached the water and landed on a boat.

Another possible way for people to be injured by whales is to be struck by a whale directly while swimming in the water.

This is also rare as people aren’t usually in the vicinity of whales, however surfers and those traveling out to sea to swim or scuba dive may risk being hit by a passing whale that is either swimming nearby or breaching the water.

Being pulled underwater by a breaching whale or getting caught in its mouth and pulled down or crushed are also possibilities and while there have been a number of close encounters with large whales nearly engulfing people in their mouth we do not have any confirmed cases of a whale crushing a human with their baleen plates.

As stated earlier even if a whale can fit a human in its mouth it cannot swallow the human because of its small throat, with the possible exception of the sperm whale.

Other oceanic animals that pose threats to humans

While being harmed by a whale remains a relatively unlikely event there are a number of other oceanic animals that can harm people by either actively attacking them or being accidentally touched by a person.

These animals include:

Sharks

Jelly fish

Poisonous fish

Eels

Sea snakes

Crocodiles

In most cases these sea animals only pose a small threat to humans, however their attacks or defenses can seriously inure a person and in some cases a person can even die from being attached.

Animals such as the shark which are often thought of as vicious predators and are known to occasionally attack people are usually less threatening then they appear.

In fact it is estimated that less than 5% of shark species are actually considered a possible threat to people.

Of the sharks that do attack people it is estimated that 50 – 100 attacks are recorded ever year.

While this number may appear quite high it is relatively low when compared to the number of people that take to the ocean and beaches on a yearly basis.

Poisonous jelly fish, venomous sea snakes and electric eels have also been known to harm people and in rare instances these attacks may lead to shock and/or death.

Lastly, crocodiles are commonly known for their aggressive nature and ferocious bite.

They are also known to inhibit wet land and areas near the water where people may live.