Eagle ray leaps onto boat, kills Miami woman

[Sarah]

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.

[Papa Bear]

They should have put it back! Poor thing I know it had the right-of-way! The FAA needs to control low flying fish! What next?

[Papa Bear]

75lbs for the Ray! Fox news just should it on the boat! Her death was from head trauma! She was sunning and jumped up when the fish landed on her! Might be one of those death from Sun Block deals because she was so slippery?

[bottlefish]

You've made your one sided opinions quite clear in previous posts, to continue to make quips and gibes in new threads, that give details about people who have been fatally injured, just to try an reiterate your mal informed stance is totally out of order.

Please, show some respect for people who have died, and the famillies that have been left behind.

If you want to continue your previous rant, go start a new thread, although I have an idea that you will only be shouting at yourself.

[Papa Bear]

Having faced death a number of times I am "glib" about it, but not about life! My point is and was how wrong the news media gets almost everything! Take a few pounds of lead off and lighten up!

[bottlefish]

Having faced death a number of times I am "glib" about it, but not about life! My point is and was how wrong the news media gets almost everything! Take a few pounds of lead off and lighten up!

Having faced death a number of times? Does that make you some sort of hero?

Feel free to be glib about your own life, but don't use someone elses loss as a platform to re(and re, and re)state your opinion on how you feel about restrictive legislation. For a start, it has no relevance in this story, or the last one you choose the same line with (i.e. the unfortunate Gilbao Quarry fatality), additionally, you are preaching to the converted, everyone else feels the same way, so what's the point?

I've no problem with black humour, but that's not what you are doing. You are (again), hijacking threads, trying to manipulate conversations to make your own political points. At best your continued rants are boring, in this instance I find it distasteful and disrespectful.

This lady left behing a husband and children, possibly parents too. A tragic accident, nobody is saying anything more. Let's just leave it at that, eh, don't turn the unfortunate story into a focus for ridicule.