• How venomous is the eagle ray
• The different types of eagle rays
• The history behind the amazing creatures eagle rays
• The different types of rays
• The near threatened status of eagle rays
• The southern eagle ray
• A Detailed Description Of Spotted Eagle Rays
• The common eagle ray myliobatis aquila
• The florida boater case where an eagle ray kills a woman
• Where can you find eagle rays

The Florida Boater Case Where An Eagle Ray Kills A Woman

According to the officials, a woman from Michigan died on March 20th, 2008 when a spotted eagle ray jumped up out of the ocean and struck the woman in her face somewhere in the Florida Keys. The woman who was identifies as Judy Kay Zagorski from Pigeon, Michigan was sitting on the front seat of the boat traveling at twenty five miles per hour when a spotted ray flew out of the water. The eagle ray weighed around seventy five pounds and had a known wingspan of five to six feet. As a result of the collision, Zagorksi was knocked backwards and landed on the floor of the boat.

Just the impact from the eagle rays weight and wingspan likely killed the fifty seven year old woman but she didn't have apparent puncture wounds which would have resulted from the ray's barbs puncturing the skin. After striking the woman, the stingray landed in the twenty five foot boat and then died as a result of the suffered impact. There was blood from both the stingray and the woman found in the boat.

One thing you must remember about eagle rays is that they can weigh anywhere up to five hundred pounds and they can have a wingspan that is up to ten feet in length. These species of rays are known to jump out of the water occasionally but they aren't known to be aggressive and as a defense mechanism, they use a venomous barb located at the end of the tail. In the Florida waters, these species are protected and they are generally seen swimming on the surface of the water. Even when people are swimming in these waters, being extremely shy creatures, they tend to just swim away.

The main reason that rays jump out of the water is to give birth, shake off or escape a predator or parasite. These rays don't attack a person out of the blue - that just isn't their nature. Eagle rays are gentle in nature unless they are provoked in some way and they rarely attack humans. What happened was a truly unfortunate event that will never be forgotten. Keep in mind, that there are rarely ever any cases like this heard but it seems like since this has happened, people are a lot more cautious when there are rays around.