Was Jonah really swallowed by a whale? How could that be possible?

   Yes, even though some may say that a whale couldn’t swallow a man, as well as live in its belly for 3 days.  First of all, Jesus believed it (Matthew 12:40).  Secondly, the Creator of the universe "prepared a fish" to swallow Jonah (Jonah 1:17).  We also must realize that some species of whales and sharks can swallow a man whole.  The sperm whale, white shark, and whale shark have been found with whole animals as large or larger than man in their stomachs.  There have been recorded events in whaling history where men have been swallowed by these animals and rescued.  As far as the 3 days and 3 nights, there remains the possibility that these were not 3 entire nights and days.  It may have been an entire day and parts of 2 other days (38 hours).

   A man named James Bartly in 1895 is known to have survived for one and a half days before being rescued.  There is always air in the whale’s belly and as long as the victim is still alive in the belly, digestive juices will not flow. If this answer does not suffice, couldn’t God have performed a miracle? The last possibility was that Jonah suffered and died and the Lord raised him from the dead.