A large creature encounters a boy as it brushes his leg on the docks. What is it, he asks himself?
The beautiful island of La Gomera, is very big on celebrating every holiday. La Gomera is one of the islands that is included in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are known for their beautiful seaside beaches, almost mountain climbing abilities, ancient ruins and multiple local villages that are ready for the adventurous tourists to come visit them.
When you visit you are able to find lots of fish to swim with or to go fishing, you can swim in their gorgeous sees that are accessible through their beaches, you can dive or snorkel or just swim.
1. La Gomera
Even though La Gomera, is the second smallest out of all of the Canary Islands main islands, it is like a paradise on earth.
You will know that you were in the right place when you have encountered steep volcanic mountains that are crisscrossed with many hiking trails, dense forests lined with many ferns, canyons, a whitewashed Cliffside Village and black sand beaches of the Atlantic.
2. A Kid Named Joel
Joel is a child who was on a summer vacation at La Gomera. It is Joel’s story and meet up with this mysterious creature that caused his story and the village of La Gomera to become a very popular vacation spot for tourists to visit. Read more to find out what happened next.
3. The Most Popular Spot
La Gomera, has many villages and notable landmarks that are located on it. It is very popular to tourists, and they love it. One of the villages on the island is called, Valle Gran Rey, also known as, The Valley of the Great King. Read more to find out what happened next.
4. Valle Gran Rey
This village is named this way due to their being one of the notable landmarks of, the great Kings statue. There were a lot of fishers in this village who are on the sea every day and always have a fresh breeze of ocean air in their hair, but no one expected this.
5. No On Expected This
When this child arrived at this vacation spot for the summer, he had no idea what adventures were sent out in front of him. Joel just wanted to have a nice time, and he loved to have a little adventure when he was on vacation, so he was always curious to find something interesting.
6. Unimaginable View
Most vacationers visit, La Gomera, In order to take part in the beauty of the Blacksand beaches.
We will begin at a rocky beach with an extremely dramatic shore, a picturesque Valley and the trail will be taking you to the beautiful luxurious green mountains. Read more about that in the next point.
7. A Local
You are guaranteed to fall in love with the Canary Islands on your first trip to, La Gomera. Our friend, Joel, was on his summer vacation when he decided to go to the docks for a fishing trip.
The events that were ahead of him or beyond anything that he could have imagined.
8. The Piers
The local fishermen store their boats at the pier’s on, Vueltas harbor. From here they will go on fishing trips, take tourists on fishing trips, visit the foot of cliffs, and just sell their boats on the beautiful water.
Here you can also find multiple shops, restaurants, rustic local bars and apartments for the locals.
9. The Town’s Charm
The tourists and locals love the winding roads that are located here, and they agree that this is a big part of the towns beautiful history. The large amount of visitors in this one location is precisely what caused his story to go viral internationally. Joel and his family had planned on joining a local fisherman for a trip out to see.
10. Best Fishing Dock
They were already for the day, they arrived at the fisherman’s boat, just to find out that their plans will be delayed.
Little did he know that his entire summer vacation I just take an interesting turn that will change his life forever. Read more in the next point.
11. Mother Nature’s Surprise
Mother nature likes to throw in her twists and Hearns at interesting moments, to help us enjoy the possibilities that life has to offer. In this case, mother nature had a surprise prepared for Joel and his family.
His parents were very nervous once they discover about mother nature had in store for him and his family.
12. Vueltas Harbor
When Joel and his family arrived at Vueltas Harbor that day, they had everything with them that they needed to go fishing on their trip. The young man then walks up to the boat and discovered that the waves in the water looking a little odd that day. Read more about Joel.
13. Something Touched His Foot
As he proceeded to get closer to the water, he was shocked to feel a sea creature rubber along his foot. This caused him to be curious and wonder what exactly the sea creature was. What would you do if something touch your feet? Would you be excited to find out what exactly that was?
14. The Sea Creatures In The Canary Islands
While it is unusual for sea creatures to be this close to the docks, it is not unusual for them to be around the area. There are always some getting really close. The local beaches, natural attractions and climate causes large sea creatures to take up residency in the Canary Islands.
15. Why People Go There
This location receives a lot of tourism because of its large amount of sea creatures that can be seen when tourists and locals go scuba diving or snorkeling. This will help them to encounter the sea creatures face-to-face.
However, on this day, Joel was not expecting to have a face-to-face encounter with any sea creatures. He was very surprised at what he was about to discover.
16. Something Stunning
Through the years, there is a young boy who lived there, and he heard the many stories about people seeing strange creatures in the world. He had always wondered if the stories were true or just made up by the adults to keep you out of the waters. Read more in the next point.
17. No Swimming After Dark
There have been tourists throughout the years that have claimed to see strange large creatures in the waters when they have been at the beaches in the dark.
They have found these creatures under the water, but I’ve never seen them with their own eyes. So it has always been unknown whether the stories are true or just hearsay.
18. Circumstances Can Occur
However, for this reason, the locals expressed to everyone that it is not safe for anyone to swim after dark. There are also no lifeguards on duty after dark, so there is no one to help them if they need assistance. He had heard a lot of stories about sharks and other animals and so he was scared.
19. The Stories He Have Heard
Joel was already on edge that morning thinking about all the stories that he had been told throughout his life, so the shock of something brushing his feet when he went onto the wet stairs was beyond surprising to him. But he wanted to know what it was, and so he got closer. Read more in the next point.
20. It’s Not The Water
He knew right away that he was not just feeling water. He knew this was some kind of sea creature, but he thought it was just a regular fish. As he got closer to the water he wasn’t sure anymore what exactly it was, but he wanted to find out.
21. This Might Be What They Were Talking About
What was it? He realized very quickly that it was definitely something beyond what he had imagined. Joel felt that something touched his feet. Was he just thinking that, or was that real? He wasn’t sure anymore and got closer to the water. What was that in the water? It looked like an animal!
22. Something Touched His Feet
Joel initially thought that his imagination was playing tricks on him because the water was so dark and that it was just a regular fish or the water.
However, his feet were repetitively touched by something large and strong. He knew that something out of the ordinary was happening at that time.
23. Was It A Fish?
Once he was sure that what he was experiencing was not just a regular size fish or the water, he became very confused on how he should be feeling. He did not know if he should be scared or excited until later when he realized that it was something different.
24. It Wasn’t A Fish Either!
The boy was very brave and decided to take a closer look at what was touching his feet.
There were adults that were standing behind him, but they were too afraid to do anything about it. Other tourists were also there, but they were very terrified and thought that the boy was being touched by and could possibly be attacked by a shark at any moment.
25. Everyone Was Scared
This is such a scary moment for everyone that no one can scream or move because they were afraid that Joel would panic and potentially fall down the stairs, causing him to be injured by the shark or whatever it was that is in the water. The people standing there were shocked.
26. A Strange Creature
The boy was very cautious as to not make any sudden movements, but he was also curious at the same time.
There was a moment when the creature was touching him that he realized that the creature did not mean him any harm and that it was friendly and just being curious itself.
27. The Mysterious Creature
Joel started wondering if this was the mysterious creature that everyone had been discussing for the previous years. Was this the preacher that the tourists were talking about? What is this creature? This creature ended up being a giant stingray that was just playing with Joel’s feet. Read more to find out what happened next.
28. A Giant Ray
The little boy had encountered a giant stingray that was just looking for a fun time with a friend.
The giant stingray is very friendly with everyone, and he just wanted to play by flopping around on Joe’s feet. Read more in the next point and fit out what happened next.
29. New Found Friend
Joel, I was feeling very comfortable with the stingray that he bent down to pet it, and it allowed him to do just that. It was at this moment that Joe knew he had made a new friend.
From that day on, the young man and the giant stingray would play around in the marina. This does not sit well with, Ph.D. student Helen Cadwallader, Who had put in a lot of time studying stingrays.
30. Aren’t They Dangerous?
Are Stingrays dangerous? She has stated that humans should not go anywhere near stingrays because they are dangerous to humans, so we should avoid them at all costs. That is what they told us but not every animal is the same, there are some of the same species that are totally nice but of course we should be careful with an wild animal.
31. They Can Be Fatal
A sting by a stingray, would cause you severe pain in immediately, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to the venom that comes from the sting rays bike and potential swelling.
Hot water can be used to kill any stingray venom, and it may also help to alleviate some pain as it has come with this sting. A stingray of any size will not hunt you down and attack you, it just happens out of self-defense if they get startled.
32. Fondling His Pal Ray
The giant stingray and Joel, had become great friends. The young man knows that he needs to make sure that the giant stingray is comfortable around him, so it does not accidentally injure him.
He makes a decision to bring food every morning, and to pat the giant stingray on the nose only when he presents his nose to him.
33. Food For The Ray
This giant stingray was able to enjoy being fed anything that the fishermen throw back into the water, and the fisherman really like this because they take away the “waste“ product from the fisherman’s fish and chips.
Even if the stingray has had a lot of food that day, he is still willing to accept the snack that is brought by his friend Joel each day.
34. Joel’s Morning Routine
Joel’s morning routine is to arrive at the marina, say good morning to his friend the stingray, and the stingray happily welcome Joel back to the marina by offering him his nose to pet. It is an unlikely friendship, but each of them has a friend at the dock.
This morning routine has caused the local news to get A hold of the story. The local news decides to stop out in the morning to see if they can catch the two best friends in their morning meeting.
35. It Was Caught On Camera
When the local news can’t word of the story, they decided to go to the marina for one morning and see if they can catch any photos or videos.
Once a video and photo were taken, they were uploaded to the Internet and this quickly became a viral story in just a few hours. This caused the giant stingray as well as Joel to become Internet famous.
36. Joel Became Famous
When Joel became famous on the Internet, many of the villagers would ask him if it would be OK for them to come down to the marina in the morning to join them for their morning routine and visit.
Some local fishermen would give him a nice snack of fresh shrimp for the stingray. This made Joel very happy with what was happening.
37. Giving Food To The Stingray
A stingray’s favorite food includes smaller animals than themselves, worms, oysters, snails, clams, shrimp, and especially Squidoo. Crowds of people would come to the marina every morning to watch all the heartwarming moments between the two best friends. Read more to find out what happened next to Joel and his new friend.
38. A Reward For Being His Friend
The giant stingray was able to enjoy being fed anything that the fishermen throw back into the water, and the fisherman really like this because they take away the “waste“ product from the fisherman’s ships.
Even if the stingray has had a lot of food that day, he is still willing to accept the snack that is brought by his friend Joel.
39. Coming Back To Play
Joel’s morning routine is to arrive at the marina, say good morning to his friend the stingray, and the stingray happily welcome Joel back to the marina by offering him his nose to pet. It is an unlikely friendship, but each of them has a friend at the dock. What a great story.
40. They Joined Joel
Joel was very popular around the world because his best friend was a giant stingray. All his friends loved to hear the story, and they wanted to see his giant friend in real. Joel will never forget about his new friend, and he will always remember this story and keep telling his family one day.