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I know I’m in New York and far away from Florida, but what if more sharks come up here? I can’t handle that!
Hi, I’m Caitlin and I’m terrified of fish and sea creatures. Like irrationally afraid. As in I wouldn’t even eat fish for years until I was able to address this fear.
When I was younger, my family went on the Disney Cruise. I was so excited, and we were having the best time ever. The last day we were parked on Disney Island, which is a magical place (as all Disney-affiliated places are, DUH).
I had met some girls my age on the cruise, and we decided to go snorkeling. Well upon going into the ocean, I noticed a sign that said something to the effect of “Disney is not responsible for deaths or injuries caused by sharks, jellyfish or other ocean creatures.”
As a kid, that was pretty scary, but I didn’t let it stop me from exploring the sunken treasure planted in the Disney reef. And then I saw it.
There was some sort of swordfish-looking fish staring at me under water. I didn’t know what to do except try to swim away. Well, it chased me so I panicked and started flailing around. I was on swim team, so fortunately I was able to quickly get to where I could stand up and bolt onto the beach.
I don’t know what it was or why it was following me, but that in combination with the harrowing sign I saw on Disney Island instilled a fear of fish in me that I could never shake. I don’t go in the ocean unless I can see my feet, and aquariums make me very anxious.
My ex was from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and I went to visit him one summer. He knew about my phobia but decided to throw me off a boat into the deep ocean anyway because it was so funny. OH AND THERE WAS A SHARK IN THE WATER.
As if I weren’t already scarred enough by my snorkeling experience, I also had to deal with seeing a shark under water because my boyfriend thought “facing my fear” meant tossing me directly into it. I’m even more scared of sea creatures now than I was as a kid. So yeah I’m freaking out about this shark migration.
Are you afraid of the ocean? What about sharks? Tell me in the comments!
Fellow editor Jess is terrified of spiders
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I have same thing. I’ve been terrifed of pretty much everything to do with the sea since I was a kid and got sucked under by a wave. Then the one time my friends managed to persuade me that going in the sea would be fun, I got stung by a jelly fish and had a massive foot for a week. that was 2 years ago and I still refuse to step foot in the sea.
I am personally TERRIFIED of sharks and crocodiles, even open waters. I can’t even swim on my own because I get this feeling that something is gonna attack me or that something is following me and I end up panicking and almost drowning. But my solution is : Yolo. I know it’s old but are you really gonna spend your life not swiming, eating fish or going into the ocean or sea because of a little fear? Don’t you wnt to live and experience everything you can before you die? I do
I just love sharks. I have been to California several time and had the chance to swim with them (since up here in Canada, we don’t have much sharks) but let me tell you; even though all those sharks migrated to Florida in one shot doesn’t mean they will harm people. Unless it’s the great white shark and/or you have a major bleeding wound on you, most shark species don’t hurt humans. I think it’s about 7 human deaths per year and you’re 1,000 times more likely to drown in the sea than you are to be bitten by a shark, while WE kill 10 millions sharks annually.
I’ve never been to a beach since i was like 4 and i wasn’t scared then. Like now since i’m older and more terrified i think i wold love to go to the beach, but i would NEVER step a foot into that water!! I’m mostly afraid of sharks and drowning.
I actually am so scared of sharks i swear it’s a phobia… like even that clip from finding memo made me a little nervous. I’ve hyperventilated before from looking at pictures of sharks, so you can imagine what it was like when i saw clips of the sharks from florida… the weirdest thing is that i’m from alberta, so there’s literally no bodies of water bigger than lakes by me lol so i really have nothing to fear there…
Im terrified of sharks and big fish with teeth. i avoid the ocean all the time in the summer. But when I do go to the beach, I will only go up to my knees in the water because I am afraid I will get eaten.
That was pretty sucky of your boyfriend to do that. And I agree with you: fish are scary. I’m afraid to swim in the ocean for that exact reason
I loveeee sharks! theyre my favorite animal, i wouldnt want to be swimming around with a hungry vicious one, but i would like to swim with one, one day. I like most sea creatures, except whales. those things scare me!