spotted eagle ray kills Michigan woman in Florida Keys

MARATHON, Fla. (AP) -- A Michigan woman died Thursday when a spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water and struck her in the face in the Florida Keys, officials said.

Judy Kay Zagorski, of Pigeon, Mich., was sitting in a boat going 25 mph when a spotted eagle ray that weighed about 75 pounds and had a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet flew 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, where the city of Marathon is located, Pino said.

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

The impact likely killed the woman, but it was not immediately clear if she had any puncture wounds from the ray's barb, Pino said. An autopsy will determine an official cause of death, Pino said.

Spotted eagle rays can weigh up to 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet.

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http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI80662/

 

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wow I been to Key West twice...never seen these creatures

 

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didn't one kill that famous nature dude? :bugeye:

 

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The Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin)

 

Man, thats just about the craziest way I've ever heard of anyone getting killed...

 

The grass and silver and bighead carp currently spreading up the Mississippi River are known to jump when approached by boats - about four feet, sometimes more, for a fifty pounder. There have been several severe injuries - it's just a matter of time until someone gets killed.

 

I see them all of the time. They are always leaping out of the water and "flying" for over 25 yards or so before reentering the water. It is rather a beautiful sight to watch because sometimes there's a school of them and they take turns "flying" beside each other. They are very interesting to be with in the water and I see them when I dive. They never bother humans and are actually quite timid creatures.

 

This was just an accident. I'm interested to know what they did with the Ray though..

 

They let it die in the boat and brought it back to shore with them.

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They didn't kill it ?

 

Well it sort of died when it hit the woman. The impact was very severe so that it either knocked the ray out or killed it as with the woman. I don't know for certain exactly what happened for I wasn't there but only am going by what was said by the others on the boat.

 

Ay, thanks

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Enmos you are a human, wake up, don't be so anti-specio-centric. If you will care more about other animals and not humans, imagine a world were others will be like you, a world were life of a dog will be more than a life of a human. That would be a much more displeasing world than it is now.

 

? wtf? Draq?

 

dude Enmos is like totally against humanity. He cares for other animals more than humans. He cared more for that eagle ray than the woman.

 

like totally! I feel bad for both of them, unless the women was a fatty or an uggo

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Damn...talk about rolling snake eyes! I wonder what the statistical probability of dieing from being hit by a flying stingray is?

 

If those people let the ray die on purpose it's more tragic than the woman being killed by the ray by accident. In that case, yes, I would care more for the ray.
And experience has taught me that humans are exactly like that.. remember Jaws ?

 

are you referencing your ideology on a Hollywood Jaw movie?

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A death like this, is like a slap in the face with a dead fish.