The 51-year-old Rainer Schimpf, who takes tourists whale watching in Algoa Bay, was filmed with his legs hanging out of a Bryde's whale's mouth, Timeslive reported.

In a video which has jointly since got almost three million views, Schimpf said that he was grateful that he was spat out by the mammal.

"It happened extremely fast, from an observer, I suddenly became an inside man, inside a whale," Schimpf said.

"It gave me a great connection to the whale which I don’t think anyone else had had before," continued Schimpf in the video.

Schimpf, remembering the moment, said that the "it got dark, and I felt some pressure on my hip and I instantly knew that a whale had grabbed me".

"There is not time for fear in a situation like that, you'll have to use your instinct," Schimpf said.

He told MyPE that he "felt the pressure increase around the waist, which is when I guess the whale realised his mistake as he turned sideways, opened his mouth slightly to release me and I was washed out, together with what felt like tons of water."

Schimpf said that it was an "interesting experience for him, but nothing he would ever want to do again".

"I now have inside knowledge of a whale which nobody else has," Schimpf concluded. 

News24