whales

[dibble1]

If I were to swim into a large whales mouth what would it do, spit me out or swallow me? Obviously I know whales live on plancton but some whales mouth are clearly big enough for a human to be accidentally scooped up in.

[jno]

I don't think even whales could swallow you whole. The biggest ones feed on plankton and have baleen to filter food; they'd probably choke on a herring.

I don't know if this link will work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah#Suggested_literal_interpretations

[jno]

it didn't, quite; you'll have to click on the suggested interpretations subsection yourself.

[Fitzer]

About the largest thing a Blue Whale can swallow is a grapefruit apparently, on the other hand a Sperm whale probably wouldn't even notice you going down as they don't live on plankton but species such as giant squid and rays.

[mrs_overall]

Not all whales eat plankton. A killer whale would make a bit of a mess of you if you swam into its mouth

[Mr Veritas]

In the 1870's, a sailor was swallowed by a sperm whale after falling out of his (small) whaling boat.
His colleagues were able to kill the whale within 5 minutes.
They cut the whale open and retrieved their colleague.
He WAS still alive.
They took him back to the ship,where sadly he died in about 30minutes.
You might ask why he died if he was retrieved alive from the whale?
Sadly,he had been in the whale's stomach for just too long,and the stomach acid had stripped most of the layers of his skin;he died from the shock.
So,if a blue whale swallowed you,you would be digested in no time at all!

[dibble1]

Thankyou all. Quite fascinating!