A shape emerges under the murky green waters as a whale slowly glides, oblivious to the gasps of awe and camera clicks above it. Soon it is joined by another and the sound of shutter clicks resonate in the still, calm air. This was the special moment a group of  lucky sightseers encountered the massive humpback whales of Canada. Once in a lifetime: The whale sighting was a 'spiritual occasion' for sightseers on a whale watching excursion. Unaware of the fuss surrounding their appearance, the whales continue to swim calmly. Furiously taking photographs, the tourists are mesmerised by the graceful movements of the cetaceans as they approach the boat. The pair of friendly humpback whales seem to have no fear of the boatload of watchers and swim ever closer to the vessel. Gasps of awe are heard as they  experience the rare moment. Doug Davis, the owner of Prince Rupert Adventure Tours who organised the whale watching, spoke to CTV News Vancouver about the experience. 'People on the boat had never seen a whale before and all of a sudden you have these whales going right up to the boat,' Mr Davis said of the encounter. Up close and personal: Many of the tourists had not seen a whale before, let alone this close up. More videos of the encounter have since emerged on YouTube, uploaded by the sightseers on the tour. The whales were spotted off the British Columbia coast near Prince Rupert in Canada. 'It's a bit of a spiritual occasion. It puts us in our place a little bit.' According to Mr Davis, the whales behaved rather unusually, swimming around the vessel for the next few hours. He told the Canadian news agency that the group spotted a large pod of at least ten transient killer whales  in the distance. Mr Davis believed the humpbacks were intentionally avoiding the orcas. 'If you look at the end of the video, I took the ID's of the whales,' he said. 'You can actually see the bottom edge of one of the tail flukes had teeth marks on it. 'Obviously this whale had an experience with killer whales before.' Mr Davis said this experience was among one of his best whale watching tours. 'You see this kind of stuff once in a while, not very often,' he said. 'To actually experience it – everybody was just totally in awe.' More videos of the encounter have since emerged on YouTube, uploaded by the sightseers on the tour. 'Fantastic weather. Great number of whales. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend a Saturday!' Eric Bombardier posted  on YouTube. And tourist, Melanie Hooker, who was also on the boat that day posted a video on YouTube. 'Humpback whales "playing" around our whale watching vessel for about 45 minutes. Getting up close and personal,' she wrote.

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The whales were spotted off the British Columbia coast near Prince Rupert. Unusually for them, the mammals swam around the vessel for a few hours. Doug Davis from the tour agency said 'everybody was just totally in awe'

On what should be the happiest day of her career, Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli has faced an online backlash with trolls branding her 'fat', 'manly' and an 'ugly b****'. The vicious attacks took place after 28-year-old Bartoli scooped the woman's singles prize at today's Wimbledon final. Online trolls took to Twitter to criticise her looks, saying that she did not deserve to win as she is too 'ugly'. Winner: Bartoli was attacked by Trolls on Twitter criticising her looks and branding her 'manly' Shock: The Frenchwoman has described the win as a childhood dream come true. One Twitter user said 'Bartoli didn't deserve to win because she is ugly'. Another said: 'For the first time ever a man wins the women's Wimbledon final! Go team men. #balls' And she was also told to: 'get a boob job with the money you won. ugly b***'(sic) Radio commentator John Inverdale also caused outrage when. he asked BBC Radio 5 Live listeners: 'Do you think Bartoli’s dad told. her when she was little "You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never. be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight."' The BBC was forced to apologise after the remarks that were made live on air. Inverdale later said: 'We poked fun, in a nice way, about how she looks ... but Marion Bartoli is an incredible role model.' Second place: Sabine Lisicki was left devastated when she lost today's final, but Bartoli comforted her by saying she would have another go in the future. All smiles: Some Twitter users compared Bartoli's looks with those of her rival Sabine Lisicki. A BBC spokesman said: 'We accept that this remark was insensitive and for that we apologise.' The Twitter attacks have prompted an outpouring of criticism online as with Bartoli supporters rush to her defence. One said: 'Bartoli as the complete underdog has just won Wimbledon. WHY ARE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT HER FACE AND BODY!!?!' John Inverdale made a derogatory comment about the tennis champion. Another added: 'Sadly being an amazing athlete counts for nothing if you're a woman :(' Bartoli today defeated. Sabine Lisicki, who had gained huge admiration for the way she beat last. year's champion Serena Williams earlier in the tournament. But she lost to 15th seed Bartoli 6-1, 6-4 after an hour and 21 minutes on Centre Court. Bartoli had endured a difficult 2013 before this fortnight. She failed to pass the third round of any tournament and her coaching relationship with her father Walter came to an end. She had also never won a major tournament before. But she was a picture of delight this afternoon as she lifted the famous Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court after racing into the stands to hug Walter. Bartoli reached the final here in 2007, but she seemed over-awed by the occasion at the beginning. 'Honestly I just can't believe it,' she said. As a little girl I dreamt about this moment for so long. 'I was there in 2007 and I missed out. I know how it feels Sabine, and I'm sure, believe me, you'll be there one more time, I have no doubt about it. 'When I started this campaign on Court 14, I think if you told me I'd be here in the final i wouldn't believe you. To hold the trophy is unthinkable. 'I'm just so happy to be holding this trophy. It's been my dream since i was six years old.'

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The 28-year-old won the woman's singles prize at Wimbledon. She has been attacked on Twitter for her looks. Trolls branded her 'fat' and an 'ugly bitch' before calling her 'manly' BBC commentator John Inverdale has been criticised after asking if Bartoli's father had ever told her she wasn't a 'looker'