Picture this: You’re an apprentice seaman on a whaler, and you’re taking your first
ever voyage.
Just as you’re sailing deeper into the ocean, your ship is attacked by a sperm whale, and
it swallows you whole.
Yikes!
But after two days in its belly, you’re finally rescued, and found alive!
If that would’ve happened last month, everyone would be tweeting about it, and you’d probably
be taking selfies in the whale’s stomach.
By the way, have you ever had any close encounters with a whale?
Let me know down in the comments!
The adventure went somewhat differently almost 130 years ago.
It was the middle of February in 1891; James Bartley was just 21 years old and was ready
to start his training as a seaman on a whaler.
He was thrilled for his newfound career path and prepared to ace it.
While onboard his first whaling ship, called “The Star of the East”, in the middle
of the South Atlantic Ocean, they spotted a huge Sperm whale.
It was about 0.5 a mile away from the ship, and they were getting closer.
The closer they got to the beast, the larger it became.
The whale started to sense the danger approaching.
As soon as the ship got close enough, its sails were loosened and the smaller boats
were lowered into the sea.
Then, the unexpected happened.
An unpredictable race started between the immersed sperm whale and “The star of the
East”.
James Bartley was in the first boat that got close to the creature.
Their plan was to approach it from the back, believing that they’d catch it off guard
and be able attack.
So, they crept up from the rear.
They got so close they could almost touch it.
But as soon as one of the seamen harpooned the whale, it started to panic.
Its immediate instinct was to free-itself and fight back.
The whale started thrashing its giant tail on the water, causing massive waves that crashed
around the boats.
Bartley and his team realized that they were in dangerous waters and had to get out of
there.
Each of them grabbed a paddle and started rowing frantically to get out of its reach.
But they were too close to the flukes.
The giant kept thrashing its tail, overwhelming the oarsmen with large foamy waves.
Then, a loud roar came out of the whale’s mouth.
It slapped the water with its large flutes and took a deep dive under the water.
The seamen were sure the whale would come for them, but they didn’t know where to
paddle because they couldn’t see it.
Not only was it too deep, but the foamy waves also made it impossible to see under the water.
As the ocean began to calm, large, ominous waves started to appear.
It was now clear that the whale was returning, but from which direction?
The seamen had no other option but to pick a path and begin frantically paddling.
Suddenly, they felt a splintering crash underneath the hull, which sent their boat spinning into
the air.
The whale broke the wooden longboat into a million pieces, and the five men landed in
the water.
Another loud roar was heard, and the beast disappeared.
Another longboat rushed to their rescue and picked up all the men in the water.
Except for one apprentice – James Bartley.
They looked for him for a few hours, but he was nowhere to be found.
They had no choice but to return to the ship without him.
Before long, the whale re-appeared.
This time it was wallowing on the surface without disturbing the large vessel.
As the seamen were gazing at the creature, they noticed that it appeared slightly swelled.
But they didn’t pay much attention to it.
Many hours had passed since that incident in the morning.
And, right before sunset, the whale was still floating on the surface of the water.
It was clear now that it was no longer alive.
It was just a few hundred feet away from the ship, and the crew members decided to approach
it once again.
They got into their longboats and started paddling towards it.
They hooked the animal on a winch and brought it closer to the ship.
Since it was getting dark, they kept the whale attached to the ship and decided to continue
their job the next day.
The following morning, the first thing the oarsmen did was look again for any sight of
their missing friend.
But they were only met with miles and miles of water and the view of the beautiful sunrise.
The men decided to move on and continue their hunt for another whale, when suddenly something
strange happened.
That afternoon, as someone was investigating the bloated whale they captured the night
before, he noticed something moving in its stomach.
At first, the crewman brushed it off.
He thought he was just tired and seeing things.
But then, the second movement happened.
This time it was unmistakable.
Something large was alive and moving inside the whale.
Immediately, he informed his fellow sailors, and they rushed to the scene.
They were all staring at it, not knowing what the next step should be.
As soon as the captain of the ship arrived, he alerted the ship’s doctor.
Everyone thought that a huge fish was inside, and the doctor decided to perform an incision.
Right then and there, to everyone’s surprise, the missing sailor - James Bartley, slid out.
Everyone cheered.
He was alive.
But the doctor didn’t let the crew celebrate for long, since he needed their help.
As soon as Bartley came out, he appeared extremely pale, and he was nearly unconscious.
He was blabbering words that didn’t make sense.
So, the doctor ordered everyone to drench him with sea water and clean him up immediately.
He couldn’t speak, and he was taken into a confined cabin onboard the ship.
He wasn’t allowed to leave the room.
He was floundering and could’ve hurt himself.
So, everything he needed was brought to him.
After a few weeks had passed, he was making steady progress.
Within a month, he was able to talk to his fellow sailors and share his unbelievable
experience.
He remembered how he saw himself falling into the water, and as soon as he was submerged,
he saw the ginormous mouth opening.
Bartley was too small to swim away, and without even thinking, he swam through a slimy tube
that took him to the whale’s stomach.
He recalled how he was able to breathe, but after some time he blacked out.
The young sailor couldn’t remember anything after that.
That was James Bartley’s first and last trip at sea.
Due to that extraordinary experience, it was said that his skin turned white and he lost
his sight for the rest of his life.
The crew members of the ship started sharing his story by word of mouth, and it began gaining
momentum.
In 1896, the first article was published in the New York World, telling a small portion
of the story.
The readers of the newspaper were intrigued by the story and began asking for more details.
So, they sent their letters to the author with their questions.
A week later, another article came out from the same newspaper responding to the queries
of the readers with more details of the story.
After that, a third article followed with a similar incident, depicting a man-eating
shark.
A few more articles emerged around the world narrating the event, and continued up until
1914.
Then, everything went quiet.
Years later, a historian picked up the story and began an investigation.
His name was Edward Davis.
He read the stories that were published and noticed a lot of factual inconsistencies.
While the ship in the story, “The Star of the East”, was a British ship that did exist
at that time, it wasn’t a whaling vessel.
After some more digging, he found that James Bartley’s name wasn’t even on the crew
member list.
To add to the doubt, during his investigation, Davis received a letter from the Captain’s
wife which stated that the whale story was a hoax.
She knew because she’d been travelling with her husband during his sailing years and nothing
like that had ever happened.
And there was another flaw in the story: It would be scientifically impossible for a human
being to survive inside a whale’s stomach, even if they’re swallowed whole.
In June of 1891, there was, in fact, a true story about a huge 30-foot Gorleston whale
that attacked people near Great Yarmouth in England.
Edward Davis believed the man-swallowing sperm whale tale was inspired by that incident.
According to some reports, James Bartley returned to England and started working as a cobbler.
Maybe a blind cobbler?
Who knows!
Alas, it was just a whale of a tail, and a hard one to swallow at that!
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