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.

[mythoughtsr]

If you open yourself up to wildlife, you are opening yourself up to injury, whether on land or in the sea. We sometimes pay a heavy price to intermingle with wildlife and this woman paid the ultimate price.

[hoopakai]

Stingrays: new national threat?

[easeup-2009]

Y''all know me. Know how I earn a livin''. I''ll catch this bird for you, but it ain''t gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycocks. This stingray, swallow you whole. No shakin'', no tenderizin'', down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that''ll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin'' basis. But it''s not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I''ll find him for three, but I''ll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you''ve gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don''t want no volunteers, I don''t want no mates, there''s too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole *** thing.

[nolalou]

We sometimes pay a heavy price to intermingle with wildlife and this woman paid the ultimate price.Posted by Mythoughtsr

Unlike adventurer Steve Irwin, who was in the water when he was stung by a Sting Ray, this woman was on a boat! It was a rare and unfortunate incident, but you could hardly say she was ''intermingling with wildlife'' or engaging in risky behaviour.

[yongamerica]

Osama bin Stingray is terrorizing Florida.

My condolences to the woman''s family, what a freaky accident. How is this becoming a trend? Global warming?

[miwasan]

There''s a number of things wrong with this ''news'' article. It''s all speculation for one. There''s no hard data yet released as to ''what actually happened''. The ray did not kill the woman. She fell, and hit her head. That, most likely, is what did the woman in. Did the ray get back in the water? Did someone on the boat kill it? There''s just too many questions left to answer in this report before CBS (or any news outlet) should be reporting it as a ''Ray Kills Woman''. It''s non-news until the facts are in.

[republic1776]

So they have to kill the poor sting Ray?
Because some fool decided to take a boat ride.
It did NOT attack her, she fell and hit her head.
Everything is a risk in life.

[zootallures2]

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.

[hdinsight]

The headline is sensational, implies the stingray was on the attack. I can almost see a boat filled with vengeful macho fisherman out to kill as many stingrays as possible. This was an unfortunate, freak accident. Wrong place, at the wrong time. When will journalists grow up and stop concocting headlines that inflame tragedy?

[randynason]

The old woman who was killed- her name''s not Barbara and she wasn''t wearing pearls, was she?

[republic1776]

CBS can''t even write thier own material!
Copied and paste from wikipedia! see below.
Look familar?


These rays can grow extremely large, up to 180 cm including the tail. The tail looks like a whip and may be as long as the body. It is armed with a sting. "Eagle rays live close to the coast in depths of 1 to 30 m and in exceptional cases they are found as deep as 300 m. The eagle ray is most commonly seen cruisng along sandy beaches in very shallow waters, its two wings sometimes breaking the surface and giving the impression of two sharks travelling together"

[extremophil]

How is this becoming a trend? Global warming?
Posted by yongamerica

Yeah, that makes sense. It''s a "trend", and at this rate all the people will be dead from sting ray attacks in about 2 billion years. I think global warming is cooking your teeny tiny brain.

[timdgrim]

Wrong place, Wrong time!!

[phbc]

walt1944 you are an idiot. Grow up. This is a tragic story and not everything you read needs to become a forum for your political opinions. Get a life and some sort of help with your writing skills.

[squidly8]

Before global warming, rays didn''t jump out of the water. Now that the water is warmer, they are jumping out to cool down but it is out of the frying pan into the fire down there.

I''m kidding. How on earth could someone try to make a connection between this incident and global warming.

[ksjeff-2009]

This cannot be allowed to continue. These "weapons of mass distruction" must be eliminated or the entire world will not be safe.

The elimination of Stingrays will commence immediately. Shock and Awe should fix them.

[newsjunky5]

"It human encroachment into their terroritory. I''''m on the Stingray side!"
------------------------------
That''s why our Commander in Chief has declared his, "War on Tourism" We''ll show those tourerists a thing or two...what? ok,... never mind.

[magoo2u1]

Wow. A new way to die. Have to say I never thought of that one. There is a lake in the midwest (can''t remember where) that is infested with a carp from asia. Fishermen are demanding something be done about the problem because the *** things leap into the air and they run into them when speeding across the lake to their next fishing hole. Thing is they weigh somwhere around 10 to 15 pounds. Deatails may be off a bit, saw it on the news about 6 months ago. Was kinda glad I didn''t live near them.

[magoo2u1]

That''s wierd. If put D A R N in this thing you get *** out. Must be some p u s s y writing software at CBS.

[newsjunky5]

Should have been carrying a raygun.

[incog-nito]

When are we going to declare a "War on Stingrays"?

[manhattanny]

I don''t know what''s wrong with you people person is dead...and you joke her family was on that boat watching with this tragedy. I can''t imagine having my mom killed before me by a freak accident involving a stingray of that size inches from me..I hope tragedy never touches your lives.

[mjones62254]

I live in the Florida Keys and you do see stingrays. They are known to jump out of the water, but it is unclear why. Maybe a predator is chasing them, maybe for fun...we don''t know. It was just a freak accident and I''m sorry for the family.

[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...

[byeneocons]

It''s Bill Clinton''s fault.

[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

~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~

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

[amazedd]

Ray''s Gone Wild!

[cyberus-2009]

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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!

[juliuswillis]

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

[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.

[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!

[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."
---------------------

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.)

[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
--------------------

Steve Irwin narrowly escaped a death like that in the supermarket once.

[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.

[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...

[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.

[nikkicatt1]

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

[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.

[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.

[guysdigdirt]

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

[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.

[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...

[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.