Michael Cule wonders about a Gloranthan Jonah myth. I can't help there,
but there is a relatively well documented case of a whaler crewman being
swallowed by a Sperm Whale and surviving for a fair time until the whale
was harpooned and flensed. He was fairly nutty after the experience and
had his skin bleached white. Not suprising really, wallowing around in a
relatively dilute solution of a strong acid for a couple of hours with
nothing but chunks of squid for company.
Most Whales would have trouble swallowing a human, unless they were
pretty big (probably 60' to get the throat diameter) which limits you to
large Rorquals (Blue, Finback, maybe Sei whales), Large Right Whales and
big Sperm Whales. An interesting idea might be for a large Baleen whale
to carry the passenger in it's mouth:It's relatively watertight and can
be relaxed to a fairly large capacity.
Cheers,
Ash