The Threat Below

The predator lurks close to shore....waiting....waiting. The average victim is a male and around 12 years old. You've seen the victims, usually sitting on the waters edge building sand castles or digging holes in the sand.

In the United States alone since 1985, at least twenty victims have been confirmed. "That's only one a year", you might say. Why is this blog worthy? Well, first of all, I've written about far, far, far less interesting topics. Second, this story is pretty horrifying when you think about the number of times you've been walking along the waters edge, oblivious to the looming danger. Hell, I was just in Sarasota walking along the beach-Gulf of Mexico border, completely focused on shelling and not considering my possible demise. Prior to that I was in The Turks and Caicos and we not only walked along the beach, but were swimming and kayaking in the ocean. As it turns out, actually being IN THE WATER was the safer place to be.

You see, the predator was not sharks. Nor was it jellyfish or any other type of fish or even animal. And it's not waves or riptides. The deadly threat is simply......sand. That's right, sand. From 1990 to 2006, there were 16 deaths related to sand holes or tunnels. During the same period of time there were only 12 shark related fatalities in the U.S. So stop worrying about being chum or mistaken for a floating seal and start worrying about walls of sand collapsing on your sorry ass as you fall into a hole dug by the rugrat the next cabana over.

Sammy Sosa hit home run number 600 against....you guessed it.....the Cubs, the only team he had not hit a home run against ironically enough. Plus the pitcher who threw the homer was wearing Sammy's old number while with the Cubs. Coincidence? Destiny? You decide. By the way, I happened to be watching it at the time and Tivoed it, so if you want to watch it the next time you visit, just let me know!