A heart-stopping video shows a male kayaker being swallowed by a humpback whale off Chilean Patagonia. The stunning video went viral on social media platforms. Seconds later, the man was released by the whale. He was unharmed. 

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The incident happened when the kayaker, named Adrian Simancas, was off the coast of Chile in the Strait of Magellan. The whale surfaced and gobbled up his yellow boat, along with him. 

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Just a few seconds later, a stunned Simancas came up to the surface, as the whale's dorsal again emerged above the surface of the frigid grey water. "I thought he'd swallowed me!" Simancas said. 

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His father, Dell Simancas, captured the entire moment on tape and shared it on social media. He can be heard yelling, "Relax! Relax!". 

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The father then instructed his son to keep a hold of the kayak to stay afloat while the whale continued to swim behind him. "Grab it, grab it" the father added. "Relax, relax, I'm coming," the father said, further saying "Let's go to shore," he said. 

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While speaking to Chile's TVN channel, the 24-year-old man said he saw something "blue and white passing close to my face, and it was like on one side and above me". 

"I didn't understand what was happening and then I sank. I thought it had eaten me," he added. His father said he turned around and "didn't see anything, I didn't see Adrian."

"That was the only moment of fear I really had, because I didn't see him for like three seconds. And suddenly he shot out," he told TVN. 

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What do experts say? 

Experts told news agency AFP that the whale could never have swallowed the kayaker, as humpbacks have small throats. "It seems that the kayak was right in the whale's feeding patch (of krill or fish)," marine biologist Maria Jose Perez, of the University of Chile, told the news agency. 

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That is why it is seen "emerging to the surface sideways, with its mouth open." 

"These events are very rare and have happened in the presence of silent vessels, such as kayaks," she said, explaining that the whale probably did not notice the small boat. 

(With inputs from agencies)