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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
April Roach

Pictures of Florida dolphin and dog who have been friends for years go viral

Gunner has developed a special friendship with Delta the dolphin at the Dolphin Research Centre in Florida (Picture: Marie Blanton)

A dolphin and dog had a special reunion in Florida after they struck up an unlikely friendship six years ago.

Gunner the Golden Retriever and Delta the dolphin first met when the dog was an eight-week old puppy, and Delta was four.

A picture of Gunner licking the dolphin amassed an impressive 1.3 million likes and it has been shared nearly 242,000 times.

The photo, which was accompanied with the caption "sorry to interrupt, important news" was posted on Twitter on June 17.

Some said the heartwarming image was a welcome break from the distressing news around the coronavirus pandemic.

One person said on Twitter: "I need more of this stuff on my feed."

While another social media user added: "If humans were this compassionate to each other, the world will be less chaotic."

The Twitter Account We Rate Dogs revealed some more details about the origins of the animals.

"We have received information confirming the validity of the photo below," they said on Twitter.

"This is Gunner and his water buddy, Delta. Delta lives at a seaside sanctuary in the Florida Keys and has been best friends with Gunner ever since he was a puppy."

Last week the Dolphin Research Centre (DRC) in Miami, Florida live streamed the pair's reunion.

Marie Blanton who is part of the animal care and training team at the centre, and the owner of Gunner, said she is planning on bringing Gunner to visit Delta on Friday for National Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Gunner met Delta when he was just an eight-week-old puppy (Marie Blanton)

She told the Evening Standard: "I've been a trainer at DRC for almost 10 years so I would bring him with me to work when he was really little.

"I wanted to expose him to all types of people and other animals. From the very first moment he met the dolphins, he was calm around them and very curious.

"Delta, who was a playful four-year-old at the time was especially interested in him as well. Now that he is a little older, I tend to bring him in less, but still once every few months."

Marie said Gunner was so excited to see Delta he ran straight down to the docks (Marie Blanton)

Ms Blanton said Gunner was so excited to be reunited with Delta that he ran straight down to the docks and Delta gave him "lots of kisses".

It comes after a koala and wombat at the Australian Reptile Park became "lockdown BFFs".

Their friendship began when the wombat was allowed into the koala enclosure to enjoy new leaves left by the zoo supervisors.

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