In The Whale

In the shark-filled waters off Cape Cod, Michael Packard has long tempted fate. As the region’s last-remaining commercial lobster diver, the 57-year-old has had his share of harrowing experiences, which include close encounters with great whites. But what happened to him on a routine dive was something he never imagined possible, and many around the world refused to believe. In an experience of biblical proportions, Packard was engulfed by a humpback whale, caught in the watery cavity of its massive mouth. After some 30 seconds of a pitch-black captivity, in which he expected to die, he was spit out, fins first, to the surface, where Mayo and another fisherman rescued him. The publicity was similarly dizzying for the reclusive fisherman, whose survival story spread around the world in news dispatches. But what came after the limelight dimmed was even more significant for Packard.