I didn’t read it was a rubber kayak. Most I seen are a hard plastic of some sort. Are you saying the whale didn’t eat the guy because he didn’t take the wrapper off? I think the whale thought the guy tasted like crap. Are you saying he don’t?
I watched the vid, including the part where the “kayak” is flipped and floating upside down. The “rubber” is probably some sort of vinyl or rubberized plastic, actually. I have something similar, not quite as elongated, that holds 2x smallish adults. (It will carry a larger pair, but is then crowded.)
The guy’s wet suit(?) probably doesn’t taste much like anything a humpback whale would eat, either.