Swimming in the ocean is fun, refreshing and even exhilarating. What I saw on the beach this morning however reminded me of some of the shivers and perils associated with ocean swimming. Everywhere I looked there were jellyfish. Big ones about 12 to 14 inches across to little ones only 3 or 4 inches. Some were flat with internal pink colored clover shapes, some were thick with various levels of "jelly" and some even had little leg-like appendages. The amazing thing is they were everywhere. Must have made for some interesting swimming. As much fun as the ocean is, having something you can't see brush up against you is a bit unnerving to say the least.
I came home and looked up jellyfish and learned some interesting facts: Jellyfish have been around for more than 650 million years which means they outdate dinosaurs.
A species of jellyfish, the Box Jellyfish, kills more people each year than any other marine creature.
The worlds largest jellyfish can reach a diameter of eight feet and its tentacles grow to be half the length of a football field. Glad I didn't see any of those!
I don't know what made these guys wash ashore here, but I bet they gave some swimmers the shivers. Glad one of those swimmers wasn't me!
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