Stingray Kills Woman - Just Weird

[Tom Nic]

This is just weird, crazy one-in-a-million kind of thing.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/20/eagleray/index.html

[Sounder]

Crikey!!

[Celeus]

Apparently it was a Spotted Eagle Ray, not a stingray. Gotta love the media.

[Sounder]

It's a very strange incident, but basically it sounds like the woman hit her head following the impact of the ray... she could have just as easily hit her head due to a large wave or the boat swerving... I hope that's communicated and that the ray isn't made to be the bad guy.

Well, when it's your time to go, I guess the good Lord will take ya... with the odds of this happening, I'd say she had a higher calling.

[Sounder]

Apparently it was a Spotted Eagle Ray, not a stingray. Gotta love the media.

I believe Eagle Rays DO have stingers... Manta Rays don't though. This was definitely an Eagle Ray but it doesn't appear to be anything beyond a head-on collision between the ray and the woman.

[Tom Nic]

Well, when it's your time to go, I guess the good Lord will take ya... with the odds of this happening, I'd say she had a higher calling.

No kidding! This would be stranger than driving down the freeway and getting hit by a random animal running out in front of you.

Apparently it was a Spotted Eagle Ray, not a stingray. Gotta love the media.

I beleive that a Spotted Eagle Ray is a type of stingray... could be wrong though

[Sounder]

God wanted her, so He sent the message with a sting ray at 25 miles per hour. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?!

[Celeus]

I beleive that a Spotted Eagle Ray is a type of stingray... could be wrong though

Spotted Eagle Rays and Stingrays are generally held to be in different families- Stingrays in Dasyatidae and Eagle rays in Myliobatidae, although most members of this family do have a poison-carrying spine- at least according to Wikipedia.

I noticed the web articles stopped calling it a stingray in fairly short order.

I really hope to not see or hear about dead eagle rays showing up....

My media hate remains intact!

[Tom Nic]

I really hope to not see or hear about dead eagle rays showing up....

My media hate remains intact!

Agreed... and thanks for the Latin. My reference was to the fact that I had just read that Eaglerays do have "stingers".

Hopefully this will be seen simply for what it was, a freak accident and nothing more. It could just have easily been a tarpon or some other large critter jumping out of the blue and causing the same impact.

[Sounder]

I really hope to not see or hear about dead eagle rays showing up....

My media hate remains intact!

Agreed... and thanks for the Latin. My reference was to the fact that I had just read that Eaglerays do have "stingers".

Hopefully this will be seen simply for what it was, a freak accident and nothing more. It could just have easily been a tarpon or some other large critter jumping out of the blue and causing the same impact.

Agreed, and I stand informed. Truth is, boats are dynamic and anything can cause a fall... and any fall can result in a head injury. ](*,)

[Nwbrewer]

I think this is just one of those times when, if your number is up, it's up. Like the people last year who got hit with a boulder on I-90 going 70 miles an hour. The odds against either one are pretty astranomical. Just freaky....

[smike]

It is not my intention to start a fight, [[ but ]] I see this misconception so often, I needed to say something...

Well, when it's your time to go, I guess the good Lord will take ya... with the odds of this happening, I'd say she had a higher calling.

God wanted her, so He sent the message with a sting ray at 25 miles per hour. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?!

I think this is just one of those times when, if your number is up, it's up. Like the people last year who got hit with a boulder on I-90 going 70 miles an hour. The odds against either one are pretty astranomical. Just freaky....

I am a Bible student, and, while I don't know everything, there are no indications that "God takes people". Instead, one verse says that "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall us all", and many verses express God's love for people. If someone loves us, he doesn't take a wife and mother away from her family.

Again, my intention is not to start , please don't take it that direction. Welcome to PM me.

Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?!

Thus we flatulate...

S'Mike

[Nwbrewer]

I think Sounder's post was more "tongue in cheek" than serious.

Sometimes wierd things just happen.

Jake

[smike]

Sometimes weird things just happen.

So true! Getting knocked over by a 80 lb "flying" fish is... pretty weird.

It's cool to think that there are a number of fish out there that are that big.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the big fish around here. I remember someone catching a big pinkish skate out at Westport off the jetty when I was a kid, was probably 30 lbs, maybe 3 feet across. I would love to run into that sort of thing - under water... - not in the face @ 25 mph though...

[Sounder]

Let's just shut this one down. If people want to PM and discuss these kind of things, feel free, but I don't think the public forum is the appropriate space.

I often speak tongue-in-cheek as Jake mentioned. If I offended anyone, I apologize.

[Tangfish]

My media hate remains intact!

Hey now.... hate CNN if you want, not all media

[Tom Nic]

My media hate remains intact!

Hey now.... hate CNN if you want, not all media

Nope. Definitely not ALL media! (and by the way, the media hate quote is Celeus', not mine, if you'll check, though can't say I really love our media!)

And BTW Smike, while I am also a Bible student, and find myself in sympathy with your remarks (and I know Doug well, trust me, it's not an issue) I don't typically comment on, much less discuss or correct theology or casual remarks (or even strong focused remarks) about God, etc on a forum such as this, though I'm more than happy to exercise my first amendment rights and discuss stuff in person or PM, and do so regularly!

Club dive tomorrow!

[dwashbur]

My media hate remains intact!

Hey now.... hate CNN if you want, not all media

Nope. Definitely not ALL media! (and by the way, the media hate quote is Celeus', not mine, if you'll check, though can't say I really love our media!)

And BTW Smike, while I am also a Bible student, and find myself in sympathy with your remarks (and I know Doug well, trust me, it's not an issue) I don't typically comment on, much less discuss or correct theology or casual remarks (or even strong focused remarks) about God, etc on a forum such as this, though I'm more than happy to exercise my first amendment rights and discuss stuff in person or PM, and do so regularly!

Club dive tomorrow!

My degrees are in Bible (BA in New Testament, MA in Old Testament) and I can confirm that Smike's comments are correct. Where that whole idea came from, I have no idea, though a lot of people figure if they can't explain why something happened, it must be God's fault. I can't help but wonder if the Darwin awards were created in part to counter that mentality... (not that this incident is a Darwin award one, of course)

[Sounder]

My media hate remains intact!

Hey now.... hate CNN if you want, not all media

Nope. Definitely not ALL media! (and by the way, the media hate quote is Celeus', not mine, if you'll check, though can't say I really love our media!)

And BTW Smike, while I am also a Bible student, and find myself in sympathy with your remarks (and I know Doug well, trust me, it's not an issue) I don't typically comment on, much less discuss or correct theology or casual remarks (or even strong focused remarks) about God, etc on a forum such as this, though I'm more than happy to exercise my first amendment rights and discuss stuff in person or PM, and do so regularly!

Club dive tomorrow!

My degrees are in Bible (BA in New Testament, MA in Old Testament) and I can confirm that Smike's comments are correct. Where that whole idea came from, I have no idea, though a lot of people figure if they can't explain why something happened, it must be God's fault. I can't help but wonder if the Darwin awards were created in part to counter that mentality... (not that this incident is a Darwin award one, of course)

I don't think the Darwin awards were created to counter this mentality... they were created to "honor" those who have made stupid decisions which ended their lives. For example... if someone went to South Africa to see breaching white sharks, and paddled out on a surf board to get a closer look, and became a meal... they'd be a strong candidate for the award. Nobody would blame God for taking him away.

This incident most certainly isn't a Darwin award candidate. She wasn't doing anything crazy or stupid to put herself at risk so this will most definitely not count.

If I remember correctly, the last recipient of the Darwin award was robbing a woman at gun-point and when he attempted to fire the weapon, it failed. Confused, he looked down the barrel to determine what the problem was and tried the trigger again... this time, it worked. Congrats buddy! You win! :hello2:

[scottsax]

If I remember correctly, the last recipient of the Darwin award was robbing a woman at gun-point and when he attempted to fire the weapon, it failed. Confused, he looked down the barrel to determine what the problem was and tried the trigger again... this time, it worked. Congrats buddy! You win! :hello2:

There was an Honorable Mention a few years back about a guy that removed himself from the gene pool when, after robbing a convenience store, he ran out the door, stuffing the gun in his waistband and it discharged, removing his...mating equipment.

...here's your sign...

[kwbyron]

Not to take this thread off topic, but they ran us through training on this down here. My new job requires me to camp a few nights half-way down Padre Island (near where this happened) and due to the high numbers of sting-rays, or sting-ray like organisms, we are encouraged to do the "sting-ray shuffle". This involves shuffling your feet through the sand to avoid stepping on one and getting hit, which I have been told is like being stabbed with a pencil...and then they inject poison.

It's amazing how you only remember the good things about places you miss...I forgot about things like: stingrays, bull sharks, electric eels, man-of-wars, rattle snakes, scorpions, killer bees, and fire ants.

[Sounder]

Not to take this thread off topic, but they ran us through training on this down here. My new job requires me to camp a few nights half-way down Padre Island (near where this happened) and due to the high numbers of sting-rays, or sting-ray like organisms, we are encouraged to do the "sting-ray shuffle". This involves shuffling your feet through the sand to avoid stepping on one and getting hit, which I have been told is like being stabbed with a pencil...and then they inject poison.

It's amazing how you only remember the good things about places you miss...I forgot about things like: stingrays, bull sharks, electric eels, man-of-wars, rattle snakes, scorpions, killer bees, and fire ants.

Sounds like paradise!

[cardiver]

I grew up in San Diego and spent way too much time at La Jolla and not enough time in class when the surf was good. I remember walking out into the water one morning and feeling a stabbing pain in my foot. I was used to stepping on sand sharks, but theat was my first sting ray. I walked to the life guard station, lifted up my foot to show the life guard and promptly passed out.
Not a great experience but it was a fun story to tell when I finally made it back to school.