On June 11, 2021, a fishing incident in Faroese waters resulted in a man being swallowed and subsequently expelled by a pilot whale, according to local reports and media coverage at the time. The man survived and received medical treatment for injuries sustained during the event. The episode received widespread attention because of its rarity and the dramatic details reported by witnesses. What reportedly happened Local media reported that a group of fishermen were hauling a net or line when one crew member came into close contact with a pilot whale. Some accounts say the man was struck and knocked into the water and that the whale then engulfed him in its mouth or throat. Other descriptions emphasize that the whale lifted the man or partially took him into its mouth before he was expelled back into the sea. The rescued man was then taken to shore and treated; he ultimately survived. Uncertainty and differing accounts Contemporary reporting included variations in key details. Different sources disagreed on whether the whale deliberately swallowed the man, whether the animal was a pilot whale or another species, how long the man was inside the whale’s mouth or throat, and whether the event was an intentional attack or an accidental interaction during fishing operations. These discrepancies reflect the difficulty of reconstructing an unusual, chaotic incident from eyewitness reports. Pilot whales and human interactions Pilot whales (subfamily Globicephalinae) are social, deep-diving cetaceans that are typically not considered predators of humans. Known human-cetacean incidents involving swallowing are extraordinarily rare and often involve confusion between being in a whale’s mouth versus being taken into the throat or engulfed by baleen. Pilot whales are toothed whales (not baleen), which makes the idea of being fully swallowed by one biologically implausible in many respects; however, partial engulfment, crushing, or being held in the mouth during an aggressive or accidental encounter could occur under exceptional circumstances. Responses and investigation Following the incident, local authorities and medical personnel focused on the man’s recovery. Media outlets cited eyewitnesses, emergency responders, and local officials; I could not find substantive peer-reviewed scientific investigations published that definitively reconstructed the event. The lack of a formal scientific report contributes to ongoing uncertainty about precise mechanics of the encounter. Context and caution Reports of humans being swallowed by whales have circulated in different places and eras, often with sensational headlines. Verifiable, well-documented cases are extremely rare and frequently subject to later revision. When assessing such reports, it is important to distinguish initial media accounts and eyewitness testimony from medically and scientifically corroborated findings. In this Faroese incident, available contemporary sources confirm that a man survived a traumatic encounter with a whale on June 11, 2021, but they differ on the exact nature and duration of any swallowing or engulfment. Aftermath Public interest in the episode underscored the unusual nature of human-wildlife encounters at sea and prompted discussion about safety practices for small-boat and near-shore fishing. The survivor’s medical outcome was reported as recovery following treatment; further long-term follow-up was not widely reported in accessible sources. Summary A June 11, 2021, fishing incident in the Faroe Islands resulted in a man being involved in an extraordinary encounter with a pilot whale and surviving after being expelled and treated for injuries. Eyewitness and media reports confirm the broad outline but differ on key specifics, and no definitive scientific reconstruction appears publicly available to resolve those differences.