Giant stingray kills sunbathing woman by leaping onto boat..
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Giant stingray kills sunbathing woman by leaping onto boat and impaling her through the neck
A woman sunbathing on the deck of a boat was killed after a stingray leapt out of the water and impaled her through the neck with a poisonous barb.
Judy Zagorski, 57, was on holiday with her family on the boat when the bizarre incident happened.
It was not immediately clear if she was killed by the barb of the 6ft spotted eagle ray or whether she suffered a fatal injury when she banged her head.
Killer: The stringray impaled Judy Zagorski in the neck as she sumbathed on her boat
The incident off the Florida Keys was reminiscent of the freak death of Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin who was killed by a different type of ray while filming on Australia's Great Barrier Reef in 2006 when its barb pierced his heart.Spotted eagle rays can grow up to 17 feet in length and weigh up to 35 stone. They are known to occasionally jump out of the water, but are not aggressive.
Bizarre: It is unknown if Mrs Zagorski was killed by the poison or when she banged her head
"It's a bizarre accident," said Jorge Pino, an agent with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.Mrs Zagorski and her family, from Michigan on an early Easter break, were aboard a boat in the Atlantic Ocean, off the city of Marathon in the Florida Keys, he said.
"A large ray jumped out of the water and collided with the victim and somehow the barb penetrated some part of her body, which caused her to fall back and hit her head on some portion of the vessel," Pino said.
"We don't know exactly which one of those things caused her death."
Echo: The incident mirrors the death of Steve Irwin who was stung in the heart by a stingray
Her father who was driving the boat " had absolutely no warning. It just happened instantaneously," Pino said.Eagle rays are common in warm or tropical waters and are often seen near coral reefs. The spotted creatures can have two to six short, venomous barbs near the base of their whip-like tails.
The rays often swim near the water's surface and can leap out, especially when pursued, but are generally shy of humans.
"All rays leap out of the water from time to time but certainly to see one collide with a vessel is extremely unusual," Pino said.
"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."
Source: Daily Mail UK, Mar. 21, 2008 -
poor thing.. so unlucky..
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nice...
damn the stingray is big.
so scary.