Boaters, paddlers enjoy amazingly close humpback whale encounter

Bill Bouton, a retired biology instructor, was having little success photographing birds along the California coast Saturday, but fortunately a small pod of humpback whales arrived to save the day. Bouton's incredible images, captured off San Luis Obispo, show the mammals lunge-feeding a mere stone's throw from shore--and much closer to boaters, kayakers, and paddlers (including a woman in a dress; see first image) who seemingly could not resist getting dangerously close to the powerful leviathans