Stingray Kills Woman on Boat in Florida

A 75-pound stingray killed a Michigan woman Thursday when it flew out of the water and struck her face as she rode a boat in the Florida Keys, officials said. Judy Kay Zagorski, of Pigeon, Mich., was sitting in the front seat of a boat going 25 mph when the spotted eagle ray, with a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet, leaped out of the water, said Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.The 57-year-old woman's father was driving the boat on the Atlantic Ocean side of Vaca Key, Pino said."He had absolutely no warning. It just happened instantaneously," Pino said.The collision knocked Zagorski backward onto the floor of the boat, Pino said.The impact likely killed the woman, and she did not appear to have puncture wounds from the ray's barb, Pino said. An autopsy is planned, Pino said.Zagorski's sister was standing next to her when the stingray appeared but was not injured, Pino said.The stingray died from the impact, officials said.Spotted eagle rays can weigh 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet. They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous barb at the end of their tail for defense.The rays are protected in Florida waters and are typically seen swimming on the water's surface."Rays jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites," said Lynn Gear, supervisor of fishes and reptiles at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. "They do not attack people."In 2006, a South Florida man was also critically injured when a stingray flopped into his boat and stung him. James Bertakis, 82, of Lighthouse Point, underwent surgery because the stingray left a foot-long barb in his heart. He has since recovered.

An Australian fisherman has survived being stabbed in the chest by a stingray

ADELAIDE, Australia (AFP) - An Australian fisherman has survived
being stabbed in the chest by a stingray, the marine creature that
killed Aussie crocodile hunter Steve Irwin two months ago, police
said.

The fisherman was on board a prawn trawler off the coast of South
Australia when the usually-placid creature on Wednesday plunged one
of its razor-sharp tail barbs into the man's chest.

Police said the barb did not lodge in the fisherman's chest or cause
any respiratory problems and he was taken by ambulance to a nearby
hospital with minor injuries.

Stingrays are frequently caught up in fishermen's nets and have been
known to lash out when they land on the deck of a ship.

The incident occurred just two months after croc wrangler Irwin was
stabbed in the heart by a stingray as he snorkelled on the Great
Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia.

Irwin's death and the massive outpouring of grief prompted the
wildlife warrior's friends and family and conservation groups to
urge Australians not to take revenge on stingrays.