Transcript for Diver accidentally ends up inside the mouth of a large whale

Speaking of the water, there was a frightening encounter that actually happened in the water recently. This is really amazing. A camera capturing the moment a diver accidentally ended up in the mouth of a massive whale. This sounds like a familiar story, doesn't it? This one's true. ABC's Lana Zak is here with more. This is a very lucky guy. Lana, good morning. Reporter: Kind of a biblical story, one of your favorites from the morning, but let me paint a picture for you. A bryde's whale is 50 feet long and weighs 55,000 pounds and now imagine you're in its mouth. This is a moment he'll never forget. A fun day with friends turning into a life or death situation. And I felt some pressure on my hip and once I felt the pressure, instantly knew the whale had grabbed me. Reporter: 51-year-old rainier Schimpf and his team were docking a sardine run off the coast of South Africa when he found himself inside the jaws of a bryde's whale. Rainier's wet suit, the only barrier between his flesh and the whale's jaws. It happened extremely fast, and from being on the surface and observing something, I became inside and was suddenly inside a whale and I'm sure it was a surprise for the whale as well. Reporter: This is far from the first close call with a whale. Last year a whale capsized a 20-foot fishing boat, launching the two men aboard in the atlantic off of the Jersey shore. Whoa. Whoa. Reporter: In a similar encounter just last summer nearby, this humpback whale making a splash just feet from a boat, but none of these encounters have been closer than rainier's. At least not yet. I don't think I had a whale of a time. I now have the inside knowledge of a whale which nobody else has. Reporter: I have been shark diving off the coast of south Africa, and that's what he said he was looking out for, and he much prefers a whale to a shark. He's fine now, and he thinks actually that the whale was just as surprised and scared as he was, you guys. For the whale, you get something you don't want in your mouth and spit it out. Human, ah. We were debating what other characters have ended up in whale's bellies. Dory. Pinocchio. Eva was saying something about moby dick, but I don't think there was anything inside the whale. Jonah inside the whale, right? Yes. This is a story of which history books write epics. Yes. Lana Zak, thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

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