I love the beach.  The sand between my toes, the sound of the waves crashing to shore, the smell of salt in the air.  It’s my go to happy place.  I don’t consider a vacation a real vacation unless there is a beach involved.

But it also has to have a pool as I will not step foot in the ocean.

It all started when I was young and watched the movie “Jaws” way too young. Now I have no memory of actually how I was watching said movie, I just remember being scared to death and not sleeping for quite some time.  I’m a little better in lakes, but not great.  I go into the water and if I can’t see my feet, I have a panic attack of epic proportions.

I have tried so many times to get over it, and it’s just not possible.

I was down in Marco Island for a super-quick trip and staying in this amazing hotel right on the water.  The one night we were there, my mom and i ventured out shelling and found some amazing shells.  Next morning, woke up early and hit the beach again to see what we could fine.  Let me show you reasons why my ocean swimming decisions have been reaffirmed.

Horseshoe crabs in Marco Island.

This is a horseshoe crab.  They are nasty, freaky and totally look like dinosaur’s to me. According to Wikipedia, Horseshoe crabs resemble crustaceans, but are more closely related to arachnids, e.g. spiders and scorpions. The earliest horseshoe crab fossils are found roughly 450 million years ago.  I mean, come on! Nasty! There were a bunch up on shore, which is something they do to mate – so good luck with that…

I can’t stress enough how much I do not want to swim with these things!

Just a few steps later:

Whelk or conch shells all over the beaches of Marco Island.

There little guys were everywhere! You think you found a great shell and BAM – someone was living inside.  These are whelk or conch that were all over the shoreline.  They are gross and slimy and apparently people eat them.

Those big black long shells in both pictures above are called Pen Shells.  They were EVERYWHERE.  Apparently they are brought in after some storms and according to locals, are a sign that good shells are being brought in as well.

And my final piece of evidence for today:

A baby nurse shark washes up on the shore of Marco Island.

This was about a 12-14 inch baby nurse shark that was just sitting on the shore.  I assumed he was dead, but wasn’t about to get much closer to find out.  The animal lover in me felt bad for him.  The logical art of my brain was just freaking out about it being a shark!?!?!?!? No swimming people…no swimming.

What do you think…am I crazy?  Would you swim in these waters?