The tranquility of a boat ride on the beautiful water of the Florida Keys ended suddenly when a 75lb stingray leaped in and landed on a 57-year-old Judy Zargoski from Pigeon, Michigan. Zagorski was later pronounced dead at the Mariner Hospital in Tavernier.

Zagorski was sunbathing on a small pleasure fishing boat driven by her father along the Atlantic side of Vaca Key when the stingray, with an estimated wing span of five-six feet, came out of the sea, knocking the woman to the deck. Officers at the scene believe Zagorski might have of struck her head while local media reported the string ray’s barb was impaled in her neck.

While Zargoski’s death is being considered a freak accident, those who are familiar with stingrays say the winged creature of the sea are known for leaping out of the water when they feel threatened with the shadow of a boat misconstrued by the stingray as that of a shark.

Stingray burrowing under loose sand

The stingray has earnt its bad reputation from the sharp and often poisonous sting on its tail. But in the thousands of encounters underwater, the animal has never threatened me. Here in New Zealand we know three species of stingray: the short-tailed ray, the long-tailed ray and the eagle ray. Stingrays have a unique body design, as they fly like birds in the sky. Stingrays do not have float bladders, so they are not easy to spot by the sonar of their arch enemy, the orca. Furthermore, they are adept at burrowing themselves underneath the sand, with only a casual flick of their wings. Even though they have bad eyesight, stingrays are reasonably intelligent, as they can grow quite old. The short-tailed ray holds the record, as it can grow to a wing span of 3.5m, weighing over 500kg. I’ve once seen such a monster and I had to back off before I realised what it was. Source - Seafriends

Sting Rays, Misunderstood Underwater Friends

Stingrays are the graceful winged creatures of the sea. The eagle ray’s wingspan can reach up to 10ft with a weight of 500lbs while its tail can reach 8ft. The poisonous barbs are located at the end of their tail. A local wildlife officer commenting on Zargowski’s death said that stingrays “jump to escape a predator, give birth or shake off parasites. They do not attack people.”

Scuba trip in the Caribbean, where the stingrays were being “overly affectionate”.

While Ms. Zargoski’s death was indeed tragic, the stingray involved showed no malice, both Ms. Zargoski and the stingray were at the wrong place at the wrong time when their lives interconnected then ended out on the beautiful waters of the Florida Keys.

By LBG

Source – Independent Online – Woman killed as stingray leaps into boat in US
Image – Stingray – rnbsac
Image - Southern Stingray
Image – Pelagic Stingray

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