An unexpected exchange between dolphins and a service dog at an aquarium quickly went viral, melting hearts as the animals appeared to form an instant bond.
Forest, a golden retriever service dog, accompanied his owner, Ashton McGrady, over the summer to the Georgia Aquarium. One exhibit they visited during the trip included seeing common bottlenose dolphins. Forest sat calmly next to McGrady, but his presence quickly made a splash, as the dolphins took a special interest in him.
“We had only been at the exhibit for maybe a minute before the dolphins appeared to notice Forest,” McGrady told Newsweek via email.
In a January 28 video shared on the Instagram account @theradiantretriever, McGrady filmed the dolphins locking eyes with Forest through the glass and swimming straight to him. Meanwhile, Forest, wearing his service vest, kept his composure at the glass as the marine mammals circled back to look again.
McGrady said Forest remained calm, yet curious. He tilted his head, checked in with her, and then went back to watching his new friends. The dolphins nearly mirrored his actions, nearly hitting their noses against the glass for a closer look.
“We lingered for around five minutes or so at the exhibit, and they didn’t stop looking at him!” she said.
Aquarium-goers around McGrady and Forest couldn’t stop staring. She said they all thought it was precious, enamored by the unusual budding friendship. But Forest is no stranger to meeting friends wherever he goes.
Forest visited Disney World with McGrady, where he met loads of his favorite characters. He quickly became comfortable with Mickey Mouse, so much so that he fell asleep on the icon. McGrady previously told Newsweek that she lives with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS and a spinal cord injury, and Forest is trained to perform both psychiatric and Autism-related assistance tasks.
Now, this dolphin moment is another core memory for the duo.
“I know that dolphins are incredibly intelligent and thought they might be aware of him, but could not have possibly anticipated the reaction we got,” McGrady said. “It was so neat!”
Viewer Reactions
The quiet exchange quickly melted hearts, with Instagram users calling it a meeting between a water dog and a land dog, and as of Wednesday, the recent post of the throwback video garnered over 8.9 million views and 2,000 comments.
“Imagine seeing a dog for the first time, they’re all like, ‘This is crazy.’ So freaking cute,” commented a viewer.
Another added: “This just shows again that golden retrievers literally make friends with anything.”
A third person said: “I know a mermaid when I see one.”
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