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Stingray Leaps Onto Boat, Kills Woman

AP
Posted: 2008-03-21 06:35:40
Filed Under: Nation News, Weird News
MARATHON, Fla. (March 20) - 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.

"It's a bizarre accident," Pino told Reuters.

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 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 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.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-20 13:24:55
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4495 comments

kachina321 01:36:22 AM Mar 27 2008

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FORGET ABOUT THAT GUN THAT KILLED THE GUYS WIFE WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO PUT A HOLE IN HIS WALL TO RUN HIS CABLE. NOW THIS IS A FOOL PROOF WAY TO GET AWAY WITH KILLING THE OLD LADY.
''THE STINGRAY JUST JUMPED INTO THE BOAT AND STUNG HER ASS.""
THE END.........THE MONEY AND THE HOUSE ARE ALL MINE....HA HA HA

tarvertommy 09:49:31 PM Mar 26 2008

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It is going to be an Obama- Nation

tarvertommy 09:47:52 PM Mar 26 2008

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It is going to be an Obama-Nation .

hannahbopeep12 06:47:51 PM Mar 26 2008

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Why does everything have to be about politics Bush didn't wakew up and say,"I was a stingray to kill someone today."
To susi1110
They most likely do have signs and what would they sue? Nature? And your kiddies wouldn't be in deep enough water to encounter a stingray which would probly just move on about its buisness. And humans aren't protected because are you really going to see a parrot with an axe to kill you for your hair? We are the only ones who do that and that is why humans don't have to be protected.

mchorni 08:21:10 AM Mar 26 2008

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To bawdabingg...It wasn't fate and it wasn't God calling. It was an accident. It happens.

mchorni 08:19:05 AM Mar 26 2008

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To jyakimow... I know it's less than likely to happen in your pathetic lifetime but....grow up!

mszinfygal 09:05:46 PM Mar 25 2008

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go stingray go!

v11teach 05:59:52 PM Mar 25 2008

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sad just sad

otrpu 03:07:01 PM Mar 25 2008

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Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What a freak thing to have happen.

courtneystarlet 02:20:29 PM Mar 25 2008

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i am sorry for what happened and i am sorry that all these people are makeing this be a joke my prays are with you

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