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Eagle ray leaps onto boat, kills Miami woman
March 20th, 2008
A woman has been killed in Florida by a spotted eagle ray that leapt onto her boat according to a Florida wildlife investigator.
Jorge Pino with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said; "it's a bizarre accident."
"A large ray jumped out of the water and collided with the victim and somehow the barb penetrated some part of her body, which caused her to fall back and hit her head on some portion of the vessel." said Pino.
57 year old Judy Zagorski of Pigeon, Michigan was on a boat traveling 25mph being driven by a relative on the Atlantic side of Vaca Key.
The woman accompanied by her husband and children, was taken to the Mariner Hospital in Tavernier, where she was pronounced dead.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5xCM0HalSMY
Eagle rays can grow to wingspans of 8 feet and have tails with 2 to 6 venomous short barbs.
Reuters images.