The scientist stresses that stingrays only use their venom-tipped tails in extreme circumstances, and even then as a defensive reflex rather than as an attack. “What happened to Steve Irwin and what happened to this guy in particular … was just a fluke.” You’re not stepping on them, you’re not poking them, you’re not biting them as a predator might, where they would have a need to use their stinger. “ swim a lot more than typical stingrays, so you would not normally get them in a situation where they’re feeling threatened. The encounter seems even more fantastically random, Cowen adds, considering the elusive, secretive habits of the spotted eagle ray.Įagle ray stings are extremely rare, he explains, because the rays spend much of their time swimming, unlike the more commonly seen stingrays that rest on the sandy sea floor-and often get stepped on. It’s a relatively large fish, and is picking it up, as the fish was thrashing around, it ran the stinger into him.” “It’s flapping around, it’s jumping around, it’s struggling. “The fish didn’t hit the water, so it’s freaked out,” he said. I don’t know.”īut Cowen does believe that when the ray fell into the boat, it was as much a shock to the ray as it was to Bertakis. People have gone so far as to say it’s because of a love of life. It may be a communication among individuals-they slap the water, and that sound can be heard. “One is that they’re doing it as a means to shake off possible parasites. Stingrays: Photos, Video, Fast Facts, More “Crocodile Hunter” Fans May Be Revenge-Killing Stingrays (September 13, 2006) “There are some theories out there ,” Cowen said. The fish belong to a family of rays, including manta rays and devil rays, that are known for their frequent and flamboyant jumping, though the habit remains poorly understood by scientists. While he has never heard of a fatal attack by a spotted eagle ray, Cowen says it is quite common for the animals to leap out of the water. “I just think they’re just two really unusual situations.” “I just cannot imagine any connection,” he said. Similarities between the two events may spark fear in beach-goers, fishers, and others who spend time in coastal waters, but they amount to little more than a bizarre coincidence, says Bob Cowen, a professor of marine biology at the University of Miami. Irwin removed the barb from his chest before losing consciousness and dying at the scene. Bertakis was listed in critical condition late Thursday.Ĭomparisons to the recent death of Steve Irwin are difficult to avoid Irwin died while filming a television special off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on September 4, when he was stung in the heart by a bull ray. Surgeons performed two operations on Bertakis yesterday and today, ultimately removing the 1-foot (0.3-meter) barb by pulling it through his heart.
The barb remained lodged in the man’s chest, while the women brought the boat ashore and called for help.
James Bertakis, 81, was boating with his granddaughters near the town of Lighthouse Point, 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Fort Lauderdale, when a three-foot-wide (one-meter-wide) spotted eagle ray bounded out of the water and fell into the boat.Īs Bertakis struggled to get the ray out of the vessel, the animal lashed its ten-foot (three-meter) tail, piercing the man’s heart with its venomous barb. In a freak event eerily reminiscent of the death of Australian naturalist Steve Irwin, a Florida man was stung in the heart yesterday by a stingray that leapt into his boat.
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