Large horseshoe crab seen on the beach yesterday.....tip of my shoe

Gull and pelicans

 shown for reference.

low tide on the intracoastal

•  Horse shoe crabs are not true crabs, and are more closely related to terrestrial spiders than blue crabs.
• Often called "living fossils," horseshoe crabs have existed for more than 300 million years.
• Although their spikes and spines may look dangerous, horseshoe crabs are harmless.
• Just like other arthropods, horseshoe crabs must molt to grow. They leave their old shells behind and grow a new, larger shell.