OT- Stingrays vs. Croc's?

[ricki]

Steve Irwin, well known for stunts with crocs, snakes, whatever died after an encounter with a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef. Long time divers will know that stingrays can defensively strike and embed a sharp boney process virtually anywhere close to their body, top and bottom. Apparently, a ray pierced Steve's heart with this spine.

It pays to stay well above rays when swimming over the bottom for this reason. Stingrays are known for defensive abilities, i.e. you won't see one chase you tail first. Just keep a reasonable distance away.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/as...in.remembered/

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0609051710.htm

Some video about Steve and the accident appears at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

[C. Moore]

My heart goes out to him and his family. He will be truely missed.

Freak accident..

[ricki]

Originally Posted by y2kcmoore

My heart goes out to him and his family. He will be truely missed.

Freak accident..

Yes, he will be missed. He had a great presence on TV and incredible speed at getting out of the way of lunging crocs!

I have tried to avoid swimming too close when passing over stingrays for decades pretty much for this reason. If you had seen one of these rays strike before you would appreciate why. Think of the thousands of stingray injuries each year, generally to people walking however. I don't think it is that much of a freak accident, perhaps just unexpected.

[Wolfie]

This has to be a first for this kind of death!
I was really sad when I heard this news. His show got me through many hours of the day while passing time at U of Wisconsin. I always knew the man was probably not going to die of "natural" causes, but this was not the way I would have bet on.

[ricki]

Originally Posted by Wolfie

This has to be a first for this kind of death!

No, sadly it is not. Again, if you saw one of these guys in action when it freaks out and strikes this outcome wouldn't seem so far fetched.

Steve's reaction speed was incredible, I suspect he just didn't see this one coming.

http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/149/01/Russell.pdf
http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/picrend...instid=1026320
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

[ricki]

Some more info about the accident appears at:
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=384

[ricki]

Another accident was reported in Florida. Rays have the equipment, if you are close enough for a defensive strike and the ray is in the mood, you may well get spiked. Nothing really new in this. There are lots of leg wounds to support this view.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines


Stingray jumps aboard boat and stabs Lighthouse Point man, 81, in chest


By Sofia Santana and Brian Haas
South Florida Sun-Sentinel and sun-sentinel.com

October 19, 2006, 7:04 AM EDT


A Lighthouse Point man underwent open-heart surgery late Wednesday after he was stabbed in the chest by a spotted eagle ray that leapt onto his boat..

James Bertakis, 81, was reported in critical but stable condition on Thursday morning at Broward General Medical Center. Sarah Howley, spokesman for the North Broward Hospital District, said a more detailed update would be issued later.

The accident occurred while retired developer Bertakis was with two of his adult granddaughters on a cruise Wednesday to look at waterfront mansions in Lighthouse Point.

When the stringray landed in the boat, Bertakis tried to push it back in the water, and that's when he was stabbed, relatives said.

The freak occurrence brought to mind the stingray attack that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and left Bertakis' family in disbelief, said one of Bertakis' granddaughters, from her Gross Pointe, Mich. Home Wednesday night.

One of Bertakis' other granddaughters described the injury Wednesday night: "Every time his heart pumps, it's like a razor blade, it just keeps cutting," said Catherine Bertakis, from her Grosse Pointe, Mich. home.

The stinger also pierced James Bertakis' lung, said son John Bertakis, from his office at the family business in Roseville, Mich. "Initially it seemed all right, but he lost a lot of blood," he said.Some relatives were standing vigil at the hospital, relaying details back to relatives in Michigan, where the family owns Bertakis Development Inc. James Bertakis in 1972 founded the company, which specializes in manufactured homes and has property in Michigan and Texas

"We're all in a state of shock right now," John Bertakis said. "We hope health and strength are on his side, he's a strong man."

Catherine Bertakis described her grandfather as an athlete who rarely gets sick.

"He lives in this 35-year-old body," she said. "He should live to be 120 years old."

James Bertakis was conscious after the attack and, with the help of his granddaughters, steered the boat back to his Lighthouse Point home in the 3800 block of Northeast 30th Avenue, where one of them called 911.

Firefighters and police found Bertakis with a foot-long barb in the left side of his chest.

"He was in pain from the toxins," said Lt. Mike Sullivan of the Lighthouse Point Fire Department.

Firefighters initially took Bertakis to North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach, but hours later he was flown to Broward General in Fort Lauderdale for more treatment. Sarah Howley, Broward General hospital spokeswoman, said Bertakis was listed in critical condition.

The stingray, which was about 5-feet wide, died on the boat, firefighters said. They kept it in a plastic bag and on ice until Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers could pick it up late Wednesday, Sullivan said.

In his 23 years with the fire department, he had never heard of such a stingray attack in Lighthouse Point.

Irwin, the popular, telegenic naturalist from Australia, died Sept. 4 after a similar rare accident. A stingray barb pierced him in the heart while he was filming on the Great Barrier Reef.

Carl Luer, senior scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, who studies sharks and rays, said spotted eagle rays often jump completely out of the water, although no one is sure why. "It can be very dramatic," he said.

But certainly this ray had no aggressive intentions toward the boat, he said.

"That's a very unusual accident," Luer said. "I've never heard of an eagle ray jumping into a boat before. But I can tell you it was not trying to jump into the boat. It was a pure accident."

Florida waters harbor four species of rays that have barbed tails: Atlantic stingrays, southern stingrays, spotted eagle rays and cownose rays. Anyone who encounters one, whether in a boat or any place else, should not touch it to avoid getting stung, he said.

"The best thing to do is to not try to handle it," Luer said.

Staff Writers David Fleshler and Tal Abbady contributed to this report.

Sofia Santana can be reached at svsantana@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4631.

NOTE: There are two video clips covering the accident and the remarkable heart surgery that followed. The man survived the removal of the barb. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

[ricki]

Sting rays spike more than humans, including dolphins


"An unfortunate stranded animal in Western Australia had a stingray barb embedded in its body."
From: www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/ orig/dolphins.htm

and even turtles:


From: www.seaturtlehospital.org/ ray.html

and probably anything else that gets close enough for a defensive strike.