Another Stingray Attack Defies Astronomical Odds

While boating in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Marathon Key, a woman was struck by a jumping eagle ray.

Think of the odds against hitting the Powerball lottery. Now imagine it happening again, a year later. As unlikely as those two occurences are, they aren't even in the same realm as two attacks in Florida by leaping stingray; yet the second such incident happened today in the Florida Keys.

While boating in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Marathon Key, a woman was struck by a jumping eagle ray. The woman was impaled through the neck by the ray's barb and died, although head wounds suffered during the attack may also be related to cause of death.

A year and a half ago, James Bertakis was on a boat near Ft. Lauderdale with his graddaughters when an eagle ray leaped from the water into the vessel. As the ray thrashed around, its barb pierced Bertakis' heart, putting him in critical condition.

The Bertakis attack occurred shortly after the death of famed naturalist Steve Irwin by ray barb, but Irwin was actually diving around the creatures, not sitting in a boat.

At the time of the Bertakis event, Bob Cowen, professor of marine biology at the University of Miami, said he had never before heard of a ray landing in a boat, let alone injuring a passenger. He noted eagle rays are particularly shy of humans.

After today's tragedy, Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission called the incident "a bizarre accident." He did not comment on the other ray attacks.

After the two occurences in 2006, Cowen stated he could find not one mention of a previous fatal eagle ray attack before Irwin's. Addressing the older two accidents, he said, "If it happens a third time then we have to start worrying about it. But I really think it's a fluke." 

Now the third time has come. As preposterous as it sounds, could rays be adopting more agressive behavior toward humans and boaters? Is there more to this story, or have the most improbable odds imaginable hit three times in eighteen months?