Kayaker Swallowed by Whale
By Madison Shaw
A whale briefly swallowed a 15-year-old while he was kayaking with his father near Catalina Island on Sunday before spitting him out moments later.
“I thought I was dead,” Greg Greenfield told Coast Guard Sgt. John Grecko, who picked up Greg and his father, George Greenfield, shortly after the incident. “I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me. I was really scared, but there was nothing I could do.”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see the video,” Grecko said.
The whale breached underneath Greg’s kayak and released him after about 10 seconds. He was later checked at an urgent care clinic in Irvine and reported no injuries.
George Greenfield had already been taking a video of his son when the whale swallowed Greg. “It just happened so fast, I had no time to react until Greg was already spit out,” George Greenfield said.
In the video, George Greenfield can be heard saying, “Stay calm, stay calm,” after his son resurfaced.
“When I came up and started floating, I was scared that something might happen to my father too, that we wouldn’t reach the shore in time, or that I would get hypothermia,” Greg said.
The video has since gone viral, with many viewers noting George Greenfield’s calm reaction. “It was scary, but I didn’t want Greg to panic, so I focused on that,” he said.
Whale attacks on humans are typically rare in California waters.