As this little boy appeared to be feeding fish, something was lurking under the water. When it finally emerged, he was surprisingly relaxed about the whole situation.

We’re not so sure everyone would have had the same reaction.

This video shows a young boy who has developed an unlikely friendship with a giant stingray, which may be startling at first, until you see their interaction.
The stingray and boy have bonded so much that the creature comes to visit the little guy. The video was filmed in the Canary Islands of Spain, where stingrays are frequently spotted, especially around an area where fishermen use the stairs by the harbor to throw back their unwanted fish.

The little boy is seen feeding the stingray and petting it, even splashing water in the creature’s direction to get it to come closer. Stingrays are very gentle, though they do have a poisonous stinger that’s used as a weapon when they feel threatened.

While there are a variety of stingray species, the largest can be over 20 feet wide and weigh close to 3,000 pounds.

This video of the boy feeding the stingray went viral, with the video’s description explaining: “Friendship between humans and animals has been occurring since the dawn of humanity, but every once in a while, a friendship comes along that is so unusual which we tend never to imagine would happen you just have to see it to believe it. This little boy in this video below has built such a close friendship with this stingray that it seems to enjoy letting him pet it and even eats out of his hand while you have a huge crowd near by watching and taking pictures.”

This isn’t unusual as stingrays are usually timid, and curious, like a pet dog. They only sting out of self defense when frightened or cornered. Once you gain their trust they are incredibly friendly.

H/T AWM