July 15th, 2014. In our 9 years of exploring the coast aboard the Thunder 1 for our fishing charters in Prince Rupert, Deb and I have had the privilege of witnessing some spectacular sights on our coast, but nothing compared to our encounter with a humpback whale in Chatham Sound on this day. Cruising between halibut fishing spots we witnessed a spectacular breach by a humpback whale in the distance. Shortly after a large dark object appeared just off our starboard bow. Thinking a log I slowed for a better look and realised it was a resting humpback whale. As our course would take us quite close I reduced to idle  power and shifted out of gear to glide by without disturbing his or her rest. (we will call it her from here on). She awoke as we glided by but instead of swimming off she swam toward us for a visit. Quickly shutting down all engines we watched breathlessly as she approached. What happened for the next hour was truly remarkable. In what can only be described as curiosity she swam around our boat for the next hour. Rolling to look at us, gliding under the boat, circling around and around she came with in inches of our wooden hull without ever once touching. The grace and majesty of this 45 foot whale was beyond words. To be able to observe a humpback at this close range was a once in a lifetime occurrence.  It is truly humbling to look deep into a whales eye and realise she is looking at you with the same curiosity as you have of her. These animals are truly amazing and to think we hunted them almost to extinction is a sobering thought. Hopefully we can learn to live together with them in the future. If everyone could have shared the experience we had I believe that our respect and desire to live in harmony with them would be greatly enhanced. I am adding some pictures and a short video clip but will try to attach a link to a longer clip soon.Here is our YouTube video