Fla. boater stabbed in chest by stingray

[GaryC 7]

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. - An 81-year-old boater was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest, authorities said.

"It was a freak accident," said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it."

Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin last month are rare, marine experts say. Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans.

James Bertakis of Lighthouse Point was on the water with his granddaughter and a friend Wednesday when the stingray flopped onto the boat and stung Bertakis. The women steered the boat to shore and called 911.

Bertakis was apparently trying to remove the spotted eagle ray from the boat when he was stung, police Cmdr. Mike Oh said. The ray, measuring about 3 feet across, was dead in the boat, Oh said.

Surgeons were able to remove some of the barb from Bertakis' chest. He also suffered a collapsed lung and underwent surgery late Wednesday and early Thursday, the Miami Herald reported on its web site.

Ellen Pikitch, a professor of marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami, who has been studying stingrays for decades, said they are generally docile.

"Something like this is really, really extraordinarily rare," she said. "Even when they are under duress, they don't usually attack."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_...gray_stabbing_5

[bebop + rocksteady 0]

Alright, who pissed off the string rays?

Cass (bebop the great)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

When do we declare war on stingrays? I'm waiting for the underwater announcement by our Commander in Chief to all residents of the deep seas that you're either with us or with the rays.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

When do we declare war on stingrays? I'm waiting for the underwater announcement by our Commander in Chief to all residents of the deep seas that you're either with us or with the rays.

any idea if gramp's last name was irwin?

[mawilson 2,133]

Alright, who pissed off the string rays?

Cass (bebop the great)

It was Steven and Jinky trying to stop global warming. I global warming. I warm.

[MandR 0]

Ok, I pissed them off the last time I was out in the ocean for the Columbus Day Regatta a couple weekends back........

Darn, in all my years of boating down here in South Florida who would have thunk that........

[*Robert* 2]

They just didn't want Steve to be the only one to get killed that way...

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

They just didn't want Steve to be the only one to get killed that way...

be careful out there in Florida bro.

Daniel

:energetic: