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When we think of friendly animals, stingrays usually don’t come to mind. But this story shows that they can be loving animals after all.

Most people form emotional attachments to animals. It’s perfectly healthy to love your dog, your cat or perhaps even your pet fish. But what about a stingray?

Yes, that’s a real question. Someone has actually formed a bond with those strange, flat, untamable animals.

Joel is a child who lives in Valle Gran Rey, which is located in the Canary Islands.

Fishing is one of the main past times in his town. So he, his siblings and his parents often head to the docks on a day off to catch some fish.

During the course of a day’s fishing, Joel and his family catch creatures that are too small for them to eat. So they throw them back into the sea. One day, this activity got the attention of a stingray that lived right next to the family’s fishing spot.

It all started when Joel was on some steps on the docks, throwing back the fish and other unwanted items from the sea. Then the massive stingray went right up to him.

At first, he was terrified, but then he realized that the animal meant no harm.

So Joel went closer to the animal. The stingray wasn’t scared off and wasn’t being aggressive. Then the young boy reached out his hand and started petting the animal’s head.

The stingray stayed still and seemed to enjoy the activity. After a couple of minutes, the stingray swam away. Joel and his family were amazed at what had just happened.

The next day, the family decided to return to the same spot once again. They started fishing.

When they needed to throw some stuff back into the sea, Joel’s father joked that the stingray would come back to say hi. But then it actually happened.

The stingray swam right up to the dock stairs, and Joel walked down to greet it again. The boy pet the animal on the head once more.

No one could understand what was happening. Did the stingray just want a friend?

Pretty soon, every time the family went back to the fishing spot, they would expect the stingray to make an appearance. It would never leave until Joel had given it a pat on the head.

Then someone decided to record one of the encounters on camera. The footage is remarkable.

In that video, Joel manages to play with the stingray for four minutes. He feeds the animal and looks incredibly happy to be around his friend. Joel’s brother also gets close to the stingray, but it’s obvious that Joel is the one the stingray wants to be with.

Luckily, the footage made its way to YouTube, where it has since become a huge viral hit. To date, it has gained over 57 million views. It has also gained hundreds of comments. People have been saying things like this:

Of course, many people have made unlikely friendships. But it must be a safe bet to say that this is the most unlikely friendship in the entire world.

A human child and a stingray!? It’s a crazy planet indeed.

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Source: gekkovision