Most dogs are known to be really friendly beings. However, sometimes, some friends they make can surprise even those who think they have already seen everything.

For example, have you ever heard of a dog being best friends with a shark? No? Well, you’re about to because we want to share a tale of Lili the dog and Sharky the wild nurse shark, whose friendship was so wholesome it quickly took over the hearts of millions of people online. Scroll down for the full story!

More info: TikTok

Sometimes, the friendships that no one expects to occur end up being the most wholesome ones out there

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Lili the dog started swimming in the lagoon near her home when she was just a month old and has loved water ever since despite having to share it with nurse sharks

Fakarava Atoll resident Emmanuelle Larchet got her dog Lili roughly 3 years ago, and ever since her four-pawed friend was a puppy, she loved all things aquatic. “She’s really a water dog,” shared the woman in an interview with The Dodo, talking about how Lili started swimming in the lagoon near their house when she was no older than 1 month.

Of course, that really shouldn’t be such a big deal. After all, many dogs love to swim, don’t they? So what’s the catch, you ask? Well, the catch is that there are around 100 sharks living in that very same lagoon. And yet, Lili is not only fine with it, but she also loves it!

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Lili loves to play with all the mostly docile nurse sharks that swim around her lagoon, and she has a special bond with one named Sharky, who comes to greet her every day

Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? Thankfully, Lili is no adrenaline junkie, and her friends are actually nurse sharks who are very docile creatures, posing no real danger to her or the humans living there. “We call them sea puppies because [they’re] like dogs, actually. They are very nice,” said Emmanuelle.

But out of all the sharks living there, one caught Lili’s attention the most. Given the name Sharky by the locals, he visits the little dog almost every day before they both set off to splash around the water and explore the lagoon.

“He comes to say hello every time she sees him,” shared Emmanuelle, talking about how much she loves seeing them play, which they do every time Lili goes into the water. “[When] I see her swimming with Sharky, [I’m] so happy.”

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Sharks are very interesting and quite misunderstood creatures. Many people know that this animal species is known to be at least 400 million years old, having outlived many different life forms on Earth, including the dinosaurs. But are you aware that they also play a major role in keeping our ecosystem intact?

As per an article in Ocean’s Research News, Sharks are key to balancing the ocean’s biodiversity and encouraging it to flourish, as they often hunt the most numerous species, giving a chance for others to grow their numbers.

Sharks are also known to feed on dead animals at the bottom of the ocean, thus helping remove up to half of the manufactured carbon in our atmosphere. And if that’s not enough, studying them can potentially lead us to find cures for various diseases that we don’t yet know how to beat.

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Nurse and other sharks are actually a lot more important to our environment than most realize, and they are not nearly as aggressive toward people as we make them out to be

These animals are, without a doubt, predators. But they’re also a lot less threatening to us than many make them out to be. For example, if you take a look at the statistics, from 2001 to 2013 in the US, sharks fatally wounded only 1 person per year, while cute farm animals that everybody loves, known as cows, actually take around 20 times more lives annually.

Of course, that is not to say that any of these animals necessarily went out with an intention to do something like that. Even nurse sharks, like the ones in our story, who are mostly docile, will bite people defensively when they’re stepped on or feel otherwise threatened, according to an article by National Geographic.

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

Image credits: emmanuellelarchet

So, ultimately, it really makes it seem that, more often than not, we humans are the issue, not these animals that we find threatening. And yet, it is those animals who usually unjustly get a bad reputation for these incidents.

But thankfully, there are stories like Lili and Sharky’s that help paint the picture in brighter and more realistic colors. While they are first and foremost predators and shouldn’t be treated lightly, they don’t necessarily come with the intention of harm. Sometimes, they just want to splash around with a local dog and have a good time!

What did you think about this story? Do you have any interesting shark stories you’d like to share? Type your thoughts below!

The commenters loved the wholesome connection between Lili and Sharky, saying that humans could learn a lesson from this pair

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