These two whales came SO close to us that  Kirstin, Adam and myself could have reached down and plucked the barracles right off their skin!  At one point they surfaced immediately in front of the boat and we slowly drifted right over the top of them while the 3 of us were sitting on the trampolines.  That was more than thrilling.
Boats are never supposed to chase or approach whales too closely, but in this case, the whales actually approached us with playful intentions.