A poisonous stingray has leapt out of the water and struck and killed a 57-year-old woman in a boat off the southern Florida Keys, according to local authorities.
Judy Kay Zagorski was sunbathing on a boat travelling 40 km/h when the 34kg spotted eagle ray emerged from the water and struck her in the face, local officials were quoted in the
Miami Herald as saying.
Both Zagorski's father and sister were on board the boat at the time of the attack.
They were unhurt.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's Jorge Pino said the accident was under investigation to determine the exact cause of death.
"It's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard," Mr Pino was quoted by
CNN as saying.
"The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened."
The eagle ray died from the impact, he said.
Stingrays are normally docile creatures who use their venomous barbs for self defence and very rarely attack humans.
There are no reliable statistics on how many fatalities have been caused by stingrays, with various media reports putting the number of recorded deaths at no more than 30.
Eagle rays are common in warm or tropical waters and are often seen near coral reefs. The spotted creatures can grow to more than 2.5m across and have two to six short, venomous barbs near the base of their whip-like tails, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History's website.
The rays often swim near the water's surface and can leap out, especially when pursued, but are generally shy of humans.
Nevertheless, an elderly man in Florida was pierced through the heart by a stingray in 2006, although he managed to survive.
Stingrays gained notoriety in 2006 when Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb in September 2006 while filming on the Great Barrier Reef.
source :
ninemsn.com.au