http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/19/1 ... -jump.html
Woman injured by flying fish still hospitalized in Miami
 
BY JENNIFER LEBOVICH
JLEBOVICH@MIAMIHERALD.COM
A 46-year-old woman injured after a flying fish attacked her as she kayaked in the Florida Keys on Sunday remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman.

Karri Larson had a collapsed lung and was taken by helicopter to Jackson Memorial Hospital. She remained in the intensive care unit on Tuesday.

The attack occured as Larson and a friend were kayaking in the mangrove islands off Big Pine Key when a fish jumped out from the shallow water and its long, pointed snout punctured Larson's back.

Authorities do not know what type of fish caused the injury, but a marine expert at the University of Florida said the type of wound Larson sustained appears likely to have been caused by a houndfish -- which can grow to 5-feet and has a long snout.

Yikes. I'm surprised the fish was able to *puncture* her back. One more reason to wear a PFD, or kevlar body armour...

Lots of fish are spiny! Their defense against those that pray on them!

Random accident that she got hit like that!

I wish those fundamentalists would stop abusing the wildlife that way.

I'm thinking that I missed something here. She was in her boat and a fish attacked her?

I've seen this on a couple other boards. The long and short of it is they think what happened is "experts think the needlefish felt threatened by her kayak paddles, leaped out of the water, and stabbed her through the back".

"They live on the surface. A lot of critters like to eat them, like sharks, barracudas or mackerel. They are a reasonable snack, so part of their escape strategy is to get out of the water."

Its one thing to have a sea lion give your kayak a bump or two, but getting stabbed, harsh.