The young man, who was on his way home from school, descended to the water from the seawall that encircled the city to feed the fish.
The typical response to such situations is the appearance of a little coastal fish. This time, though, coastal fish were few.
A odd darkening of the water followed by the abrupt appearance of a three-meter stingray on the surface followed quickly.
In those first few seconds, the youngster was taken aback; after all, it’s not every day that you get to hold a fish the size of a room.
Nonetheless, he steadied himself and finished serving the unannounced visitor. The stingray’s whole demeanor betrayed an air of inquiry.
It popped its head out of the water to have a closer look at the stairwell visitor.A short time later, the visiting fisherman was recognized by the locals.
They claim to have known this stingray, whom they have called Sebastian, for quite some time. They use the fish as a symbol of the town of Valle Gran Rey, which is known for its fishing culture.
It was discovered that the stingray often approaches fishing boats in quest of food, and that fishermen are happy to provide it with scraps from their catch or even bread.
The stingray is around 3 meters long and over 200 kg in weight. And yet, despite his massive bulk, Sebastian is a kind mariner.
After the youngster fed the stingray some crumbs, the stingray let the boy to pet him.
The most intriguing development is the appearance in recent years of additional stingrays in the vicinity that have adopted Sebastian’s antics.
It seems that acquiring food from humans was far less difficult than securing it from the sea.
