Adrián and the Whale

Endless Thread

WBUR

Reddit, Technology

4.2 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There are moments that define each of our lives. Some we can predict: graduations, marriages, births, death. Others? Not so much.

And in the year 2025, sometimes, if the stars align just so, you may find that moment explode online.

That's what happened to 23-year-old Adrián Simancas. Last month, he was paddling the Straight of Magellan, with his father Dell, when the unimaginable happened: a humpback whale emerged from the water and engulfed him in its open mouth — and his father captured it all on video. Almost immediately, the video went viral.

Simancas sat down with Endless Thread to discuss his whale tale, the deluge of attention that followed, and what he's learned from his intimate moment with nature.

Show notes:

Video of Adrián's whale encounter. We originally saw it on the Reddit thread: r/ThatsInsane
Adrián Simanca's Youtube channel
Dell Simanca's Youtube channel
Did a whale swallow a kayaker? The truth behind the viral video (NPR)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.5	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.5	From startups to scaleups, online, in, and on the go. Shopify is made for
0:22.9	entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:30.1	Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from BU's Mayrotra Institute
0:36.3	that explores questions like,
0:38.1	why are executives paid so much?
0:41.0	Do they deserve it?
0:42.3	Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:46.1	WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Could you tell what was going to happen before it happened?
1:03.0	Did you know that there was an animal underneath you?
1:08.0	It was a complete surprise when something struck me from behind
1:14.7	and there was something coming at me.
1:18.4	Like blue, dark and white shadow,
1:22.6	very fast in form of an animal.
1:28.3	Then I was like laying down, spinning, and I realized that I was inside of the mouth of an animal.
1:40.3	And I guessed that I would die.
1:47.1	There are moments that define each of our lives.
1:50.8	Some we can predict.
1:52.4	Graduations, marriages, births, death.
1:57.1	Others, not so much.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.