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Carl C
03-21-2008, 09:51 AM
...attacking and killing Michigan tourists?:eek!::eek!: Yup, I'll stick with freshwater boating.

chappy
03-21-2008, 09:54 AM
I read the boat was travelling around 25 mph, looks like a freak accident, unless the ray had the accuracy of Dan Marino...

Carl C
03-21-2008, 10:03 AM
The lady was knocked back and hit her head. The final reports aren't in but I suspect her fall may have caused her death. It's sad anyway. But this damn ray jumped right into the boat!

BlownCrewCab
03-21-2008, 10:16 AM
It's the first time I have heard of a ray Killing someone, I Have heard of at least 2 Cuda's doing it, one woman was on top of a houseboat, 10' above the water. I have seen Tarpon jump 10'+ out of the water. I'm sure each case is just bad timing, wrong place, wrong time, but damn I wish they where on video:shark:

fegettes
03-21-2008, 10:22 AM
Here is the link out of the Miami Herald with story and pics. The circumstances are sad since it was all family related.

http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/464601.html

This ray was 75 lbs., that would certainly knock anyone down.

chappy
03-21-2008, 03:17 PM
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=bdb71d01-9271-462a-b027-b9fb30d0a021&playlist=search:q:stingray:mk:us:sf:ActiveStartDat e:vs:1:cs:Msnbc&from=MSNHP&tab=m1189615355930&GT1=28114

BUIZILLA
03-21-2008, 05:43 PM
multiple skull fractures and brain damage upon collision with ray

death was very sudden

very tragic and unfortunate, her husband of 33 years died 2 years ago of shoulder surgery complications... even more bizarre

Cuda
03-21-2008, 08:09 PM
I've seen some big rays jump, but the biggest I ever saw, was a Manta Ray in Clearwater Bay jump, while I was hanging off a scafold from a crane, painting a pipeline we hung under the Sand Key Bridge. I swear that thing was as big as a car.

pmreed
03-21-2008, 08:27 PM
I used to fish and dive the reefs off Daytona (some 15 miles out, some 30), and often saw the mantas jumping. They'd come up completely out of the water and then come down flat on their bellies. Shaking off parasites I'm sure, or maybe, just for fun.

Carl C
03-21-2008, 08:55 PM
It's the first time I have heard of a ray Killing someone You haven't forgotten about Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin have you?:(

Cuda
03-22-2008, 09:01 AM
When I was a kid, growing up in Panama City, Fl, there was a guy killed by a stingray, exactly the same way Irwin was.

BlownCrewCab
03-22-2008, 09:10 AM
You haven't forgotten about Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin have you?:(


I Could never forget "steve, Hold your baby infront of a croc Irwin" What I Meant was by jumping out of the water, Sorry. I Heard of Barracuda doing it, also heard of flying fish hurting people. But not a Ray taking someone out.

Cuda
03-22-2008, 10:09 AM
I've never heard of anyone being hit by a jumping ray. I know personally, two people who have been hurt by jumping sturgeon in the Suwannee River. Neither one was from Mich.

hardcrab
03-22-2008, 10:25 AM
Wasn't there an incident shortly after Steve Irwin where an elderly man was hit by a ray that jumped on to his boat ? His chest was also pierced but he recieved immediate medical attention and survived.
Someone else recall this ?

hardcrab
03-22-2008, 10:33 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, 19 October 2006, 14:47 GMT 15:47 UK
Jumping stingray stabs US boater
Stingray attacks on humans are extremely rare
A US man has been stabbed in the chest by a stingray which leapt on board his boat in Florida.
James Bertakis, 81, was critically ill in hospital after undergoing surgery to remove the stingray's barb.
He was brought ashore by his granddaughter and her friend, who were also on the boat, after the attack.
Last month, Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin died when a stingray's barb pierced his heart as he filmed at Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.
US officials say they are shocked at the attack on Mr Bertakis.
"It was a freak accident," David Donzella, acting fire chief in Mr Bertakis' hometown of Lighthouse Point, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
"It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it," he said.
Surgeons were able to remove some of the barb from Mr Bertakis' chest.
The stingray died on the boat after the attack, officials said.
The stingray is a flat, triangular-shaped fish, commonly found in tropical waters.
It gets its name from the razor-sharp barb at the end of its tail, coated in toxic venom, which it uses in defence when it feels threatened.
Attacks on humans are extremely rare, scientists say.
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VIDEO AND AUDIO NEWS
The stingray barb that injured James Bertakis
SEE ALSO
'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed
04 Sep 06 | Asia-Pacific
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Crocodile Hunter
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