Of the many extraordinary animals in this world, this young boy ended up becoming friends with a creature whose identity you’d probably never guess! The incredible footage shows his special morning ritual with his seafaring friend. To everyone’s surprise, this wonderful companion of his turned out to be a gigantic manta ray!
The young boy lives in Spain’s Canary Islands, a popular place for a variety of stingray species. This particular set of stairs is a well known place for the manta rays, and for a good reason. They descend into the water, and local fishermen stop here to give any extra fish they have to the mantas looking for a free snack.
On the day this video was captured, this young boy took the steps down to feed and play with his gentle and cute manta ray friend. The lovable creature says hello, and even lets the boy pet him. At one point while the boy is petting him, he even comes in a bit further so the boy can pet him more easily. Never did the manta do anything that would be perceived as threatening or aggressive, he simply was happy to see his friend and to get a treat from him. It’s likely that the manta has grown to trust this boy, as he has fed him over time. Having a giant puppy-dog-like-manta-ray as a pet is sure a story to tell to his friends.
While this is an unusual occurrence, stingrays are generally quite gentle natured and friendly in the wild. Only very rarely do they ever attack or sting when they are defending themselves or get scared, but most of the time they are just gently and curiously hovering about the sea floor. If you’ve ever snorkeled or scuba’d by some manta rays, you understand how beautiful they are to watch.
This interaction is sure to make you smile 🙂 See this incredible boy and his sweet pet manta in the video below, and in order for us to keep our Earth’s oceans as clean as possible, let’s try to reduce the amount of plastic bags we use each week. Many plastic bags are used for just a few minutes before we throw them away, and then they end up in landfills and our beautiful oceans. It’s simple to keep a re-useable cloth or grocery bag in the car, and it can help our sea friends out a lot 🙂
