<P> The news spread beyond the ocean in articles as "Man in a Whale's Stomach . "Rescue of a Modern Jonah" in page 8 of the August 22, 2017 issue of the Yarmouth Mercury newspaper of Great Yarmouth on England . </P> <P> The story as reported is that during a whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands, Bartley's boat was attacked by the whale and he landed inside the whale's mouth . He survived the ordeal and was carved out of the stomach by his peers when they, not knowing he was inside, caught and began skinning the whale because of the hot weather which would have rotted the whale meat . It was said that he was in the whale for 36 hours and it was also said that his skin had been bleached by the gastric juices, and that he was blind the rest of his life . He was, however, supposed to have returned to work within three weeks in some accounts . He died 18 years later and his tombstone in Gloucester says "James Bartley - a modern day Jonah ." </P> <P> In 1896, an article named "A Modern Jonah Proves his Story ." was published in the New York World quoted a brief portion of this story, as told by Rev. William Justin Harsha, along with some initial observations . This was followed about a week later by another article that briefly summarised some responses from readers, followed by a third article by William L. Stone, who related a similar story involving a massive "man - eating shark". </P> <P> The French scientist De Parville published a report of the alleged incident in the Paris Journal des Débats in 1914 . </P>

Sailor being swallowed by a sperm whale off the falkland islands in the early 1900s