The moment the whale surfaced in front of Mr Williams (Image: AP)

       A paddleboarder was left terrified when a huge humpback surfaced just feet away from him as he enjoyed watersports off the coast of Alaska.

       American Kevin Williams, his son Brian, and a couple other friends were paddleboarding in the sound just off Whittier, located about 60 miles southeast of Anchorage.

       But as these pictures show, someone else was also using the waterway on Thursday in the shape of an adult humpback whale, which can reach 49 feet in length and weigh 31 tonnes.

       Mr Williams said the "massive" visitor made him feel very "puny" on his paddleboard.

       He said: "It’s just so massive. You’re puny against this whale. If you have a whale that doesn’t know you were there and is that close, that’s not a good situation, anything it does could be the end of my life.”

       Mr Williams's group had seen the whale eariler in the fjord, which is about two miles wide, before the animal decided to investigate Williams who said he was slower than his friends.

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       The whale came over to investigate Mr Williams (Image: AP)

       The rest of the party were about 200 metres away close to the shoreline, and Mr Williams said he noticed the whale went underwater for about 45 seconds.

       He said: “And it surfaced right in front of me, coming towards me. Whoa! I love to see whales up close, but I'm on a paddleboard.”

       As the whale slipped below the water again and turned on its side, he could see the white of its belly slowly gliding underneath, about three feet under the surface.

       The whale's pectoral fin was sticking a few feet out of the water, and Mr Williams feared the creature might flip over as it swam below him, or he might topple off the board and land on its stomach.

       He said: “If I fell down, you know, my feet could have easily been on that whale, tickling that whale or whatever."

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       Humpback whales are famous for awesome breaching displays (Image: Getty )

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       To steady himself in case the fin hit, Mr Williams said he braced his knees together, kneeled, then lowered himself on all fours.

       As the whale passed under him he said: “There was hardly any turbulence, and I didn’t get wet.

       "Whales don't hurt people, and I'll never stop paddleboarding, I'm planning another trip. This is once in a lifetime."

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