I ran across this article and photo of a breaching whale just feet away from kayakers off Maui. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/mai.../wwhale103.xml

It almost doesn't look real to me. The Telegraph is not the type of newspaper to knowingly print a fake photo, so I'm trying not to be too skeptical. What do you think?

If you look at the Daily Mail UK, you will find a series of photos showing the whale and the kayakers, and it is clearly not faked.

They had a rather amazing, although perhaps briefly, terrifying, experience. I'm a bit jealous.

It's not fake. I just saw whales off Oahu two weeks ago...in my situation, though, I was watching an idiot kayaker TRY to float on top of the mom, her calf, and the male escort. These tourists need to learn to respect wildlife and obey the law! Here are my photos:
http://blogs.myadvertiser.com/index.php?blog=10
or
www.myadvertiser.com/kakaako

A few years ago while out in a 20 ft. zodiac off of Oahu we encountered a mom and calf. It was quite an experience to know that if she opened her mouth, we'd be goners. We moved away to a safe distance and just watch her and the calf.

I too agree that everyone needs to respect the laws when it comes to being out in the ocean (or anywhere else) with the wildlife.

Wow... this would honestly terrify me. I was scared seeing a small stingray while snorkeling last year in Turks and Caicos so this... this is a bit much!

I'm sure I'd recover though (like I did then); what a cool photo to have too.

Friend here on Kaua`i kayaks Kalihiwai Bay regularly. He told me of one time when he and others were heading out -- when a whale came up without warning between two of the kayaks.

Scared the bejeebers out of all of them!

The whales get my cheers. GOOD FOR THEM!

It may look closer than it actually is. Sometimes the camera lens can deceive you into thinking that, like an optical illusion, especially if taken with a professional camera lens.