Terrorists Stingrays attack again....

Are the Stingrays trying to tell us something? After reading this from CNN:

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Florida (AP) -- An 81-year-old man was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest in an accident similar to the one that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.

"It was a freak accident," said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it."

Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed Irwin last month at the Great Barrier Reef are rare, marine experts say. Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans.

If you search the net on "Stingray attacks" several sites state:

1,500 stingray attacks are reported in the United States alone each year...most incidents occur as a result of carelessness or ignorance.

Then I guess the same author changed his numbers, 5,000 stingray attacks are reported in the United States alone each year...most incidents occur as a result of carelessness or ignorance. (I guess he thinks inflating the numbers will help him sell his "Light Stingray Guards / Protectors".)

This article from July of last year says:

An unusual number of stingray attacks were reported in Encinitas today, lifeguards said. Eleven people were stung at the city's beaches, the lifeguards said. "That's more than usual," lifeguard Lt. Brandon Taylor said. On an average day, about five people report stingray attacks, Taylor said.

And in Columbia:

In Colombia, health authorities register more than 2,000 cases of freshwater stingray incidents annually. Over a five year period in one small local hospital there were eight deaths, 23 amputations of lower limbs, and 114 other cases where victims were unable to work.

It was said back in September that at least 10 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia's eastern coast since "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed by one of the animals. I'm sure it's not related but...it does make for an interesting blog post.

:-)