DIVER ALMOST EATEN BY A WHALE

South African Dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf, 51, went with his team last month to film a sardine run — a natural event where seals, dolphins, whales and sharks work together to gather fish into bait balls. He was trying to get a shot of a shark going through the bait ball when it suddenly got dark and he felt some pressure on his hip. Schimpf said, “[That’s] when I instantly knew, a whale had grabbed me.” Luckily, the Bryde’s whale — a baleen-feeder that eats primarily plankton, realized its mistake and let go of Schimpf, and both escaped unharmed. Once he was set free, he immediately asked his photographer if he “got the shot” – which he did.
* Same thing happens if you get too close to Kevin James in a buffet line.
* Swim through a crowd of wild sea animals in the midst of a feeding frenzy – what could go wrong?
* Kind of like Steve Irwin, but with a happy ending.
* And that is how Rainer Schimpf got the nickname “Bait Balls”. At least, that’s what he says.