Stingray Attack: Fall Likely Killed Woman

(CBS/AP)  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.

"They do this all the time," he told CBS News' The Early Show. "They actually jump out of the water quite frequently, but I've never seen or heard of one jumping out of the water, colliding with a human being."

The family was only 500 yard from the shore, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

"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 landed in the 25-foot boat and 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. The rays do have a venomous barb at the end of their tail for defense.

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 CBS News station WFOR-TV in Miami. 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.

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.

Pino advises vigilance to those who choose to boat in areas known to be inhabited with stingrays.

"If they know that there are stingrays in the area, the best thing is for them to slow down, be very cautious and be on the lookout because it could happen," he told The Early Show.

[guidosfoot]

CS Marshall, the stingray wasn''t the one invading your territory; it was the other way around. If a criminal invades your home and you believe he''s a threat and you shoot him, I believe it''s considered self-defense, not an attack. Same goes here.

[NMlost]

CBS has this one a little bit wrong. Apparently, the lady sustained multiple skull fractures during the collision with the ray, dying instantly. {MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A woman who died after she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the water off the Florida Keys suffered "multiple skull fractures and direct brain injury," a medical examiner said Friday.}

[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...

[nikkicatt1]

Doesn''t anyone care about the stingray? He also died. I bet he was just swimming along and jumped out of the water in joy. When all of the sudden he stuck something that he did not see and it killed him. This was a tragic accident for man and fish. No new laws, no lawsuits and please, do NOT blame the stingray.

[snowwhitekit]

Kill them and eat them? Are you kidding? I guess we should start making tiger pies too because of the San Francisco zoo incident. Or instead, may be we should start making ridiculous alarmist pies.

[hoopersports]

Such a freak accident, I feel sorry for the family and may God be with them.

[surfgrrl]

While I feel sorry for the family''s loss, it''s not surprising this story comes out of Florida! There is ALWAYS something weird going on in that state.

[displeased]

...but to worry about a fish jumping out of the water and killing you, what''''s next. If there are too may of these creatures, find out if you can eat them, I don''''t know, just a suggestion.
Posted by carolcape

Stingrays are not dangerous killers so it''s not necessary to eat them all. I doubt if the stingray was targeting this person that it didn''t even kill (her fall to her head killed her). This was a freak accidental collision that led to unfortunate circumstances.

[carolcape]

On not knowing anything about stingrays and all, I do feel sorry for this family. To go out on a sunny day and enjoying life and to die in this manner is quite scary. It''s one thing to have to worry about criminals in the sunny days of summer, but to worry about a fish jumping out of the water and killing you, what''s next. If there are too may of these creatures, find out if you can eat them, I don''t know, just a suggestion. The Japanese make all kinds of dishes, maybe they will whip up a recipe and you can put them off the endangered list, just a suggestion from Canada. Maybe not a brilliant idea, but just a thought if their overrun with these sea creatures.

[nothappyatall]

"He had absolutely no warning. It just happened instantaneously," Pino said."

Umm what kind of ''warning'' does anyone expect? lights and the truck-backing-up beeper?

"you can bet right now there is a lawyer someplace trying to figure out who they can sue in this situation."

No doubt they will try to sue the boat maker for failing to install signs and a steel nose guard to prevent flying stingrays.