Stingray Kills Woman In Fla. Keys

Investigators Believe She Died From Being Knocked Backward By Force Of Eagle Ray Attack

(CBS/AP)  Officials say a Michigan woman died after a spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water and struck her in the upper body in the Florida Keys.

The animal reportedly struck the 55-year-old woman who fell backward and suffered a severe head trauma, reports CBS News station WFOR-TV in Miami.

Wildlife officials say the spotted eagle ray hit the woman in the face or neck while she was in a boat with her family Thursday. Her name and hometown aren't being released yet.

Officials say it's not clear whether the animal's barb struck her, or if the impact killed her. It's also not clear how big it was.

Spotted eagle rays can grow up to 17 feet in length, weigh up to 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet.

Eagle Rays live close to the coast in depths of 3 to 60 feet and in exceptional cases they are found as deep as 900 feet, reports WFOR-TV. It is most commonly seen along sandy beaches in very shallow waters.
The ray's two wings sometimes break the surface and giving the impression of two sharks traveling together.

They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous tip at the end of their tail as a defense mechanism.

[usacowgirl]

I am so sorry that this happened to this family. But I don%u2019t think that it is Anyone%u2019s fault. Accidents happen all the time. People are worried about one fish, what about all the drunk drivers out there killing people all the time. Oh wait, having to stop people from driving after they have had just one! Criminal! What about all the babies that are killed every day just because %u201Cit is the mom%u2019s right%u201D. As I said I am really sorry for this family & my prayers are with them. But come on people, we are fishing Wild Fish, things happen.

[csmarshall]

Sounds like a complete accident but I wouldn''t say stingrays don''t ever attack. I was nearly killed in 2002 while snorkelling off the coast of New Zealand when a large bull ray penetrated my chest and punctured my lung with it''s barb. A flight for life and four days in intensive care saved my life... I never even saw the ray before it slammed me in the chest...

[guysdigdirt]

This is Bush''s fault, he messed up the economy, caused htese poor people to have to sell their big boat and buy a smaller one, then he did all that global warming rain dance to tick off the eagle ray and finally he sent the troops to Iraq instead of protecting the fishing poplulation. Impeach Bush.

[guysdigdirt]

We need new laws to ban this kind of ray, we should establish a ban on rays, you know... a ray ban.

[katia327]

They are NOT aggressive. They fly through the AIR. It''s what they do, like many fish. What happened here was just a freak accident. No doubt they will find her head injury killed her.

Just a horrible thing to have happened to her. My thoughts and prayers to her and her family.

[brianbwb-2009]

"The local paper proudly showed the days catch and a little girl who hooked a stingray and that is not usually on the menu unless they pass it off as scallops." Posted by Dana417

Come to Singapore and try the stingray, here no one has to pass it off as anything, it is one of the most delicious dishes in the world. Griddle fried, inside a banana leaf, with a mildly hot chili sauce, with natural juices that give it a smooth, buttery flavor, and no bones, just a flap of cartilage on the bottom.

That is my opinion, of course, but I have been traveling around the globe most of my life, so there is an experience factor to consider.

[nikkicatt1]

I can see it now - NEW WAR EFFORT HAS BEGUN TO HUNT OUT AND KILL TERRORIST STING RAYS. NEWS AT 11.

[endofempire]

newster: I have seen rays fly out of the water and they are going forwards, pretty fast. One scared the daylights out of me in Ft. Lauderdale a few years ago. I have heard the fishermen around here tell tales of swordfish and larger gamefish jumping into the boat as well... I agree with you, it''s their turf. You don''t want it to happen to you? Take a cruise.

[endofempire]

It is part of a neocon conspiracy to make Americans buy bigger boats and therefore continue to guzzle fuel, bringing up the Exxon/Mobil stock. I hear they are training marine life to strike the smaller boats...

[dana417]

Freak accident. I see them while diving the reefs and hope that people don''t start killing this protected animal. The local paper proudly showed the days catch and a little girl who hooked a stingray and that is not usually on the menu unless they pass it off as scallops.

[iceman_1960]

"...could have happened in the supermarket with someone"s kid careeing down the [aisle] with a shopping cart running into her sending her flying to the floor."
- Posted by newster1 at 09:16 PM : Mar 20, 2008
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Steve Irwin narrowly escaped a death like that in the supermarket once.

[iceman_1960]

"Spotted eagle rays can grow up to 17 feet in length, weigh up to 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet."
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Geeze. I didn"t know they got that big.

It killed her with blunt force trauma:

"The animal reportedly struck the 55-year-old woman who fell backward and suffered a severe head trauma, reports CBS News station WFOR-TV in Miami."

Very weird.

(The stingray must have overheard her criticizing its religion.)

[nothappyatall]

Irwin was not stung by a stingray, he was swimming up and behind it''s barbed tail and somehow impaled himself ON it- maybe the ray stopped and his momentum did it, however it happened he impaled himself on the tail- it wasnt THRUST backwards into him!

[nothappyatall]

The ray didnt even attack or kill her, just flipped out of the water into her, she fell backwards and hit her HEAD, could have happened in the supermarket with someone''s kid careeing down the isle with a shopping cart running into her sending her flying to the floor.

The water is the ray''s HOME and territory, like a lion''s den if you go in, you assume all risks.

[juliuswillis]

not aggressive? how many people do these stingrays have to kill to be considered aggressive?

[cyberus-2009]

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Posted by liu_justice7

you are pathetic - and you ALWAYS touch on topics of tragedy - take your porn spam elsewhere

Posted by sbbm at 06:15 PM : Mar 20, 2008
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PLEASE DON''T QUOTE SPAM ADDRESSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All you do is help the spammer spread his garbage!

Report and ignore!

[amazedd]

Ray''s Gone Wild!

[robstrck]

So? People use well over half their resources and energy to kill themselves by the millions. No other creature, bacteria, germ, or virus, kills more humans than other humans.

Posted by zootallures2

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Maybe so, but I value human life and I do feel sorrow for her family.

[byeneocons]

It''s Bill Clinton''s fault.

[nlm2383]

How else are they supposed to know the animals stats republic1776? Besides, Wikipedia is info put in by the public, it doesn''t really belong to anyone...