Barracuda salta e ataca mulher que estava em caiaque

MIAMI - Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:47

Writing by Pascal Fletcher 

Editing by Jim Marshall

Jumping barracuda injures kayaker off Florida Keys

(Reuters) - A barracuda jumped out of the water and bit a 45-year-old woman kayaker in the chest in the Florida Keys, causing injuries which required her evacuation by boat and helicopter to a Miami hospital, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday.

It said the incident, in which the woman suffered a suspected punctured lung and broken ribs, took place on Sunday evening near Big Pine Key where the victim and a companion were kayaking in shallow water. The two told rescuers the fish was about 4 feet long and was previously seen skipping across the water. It knocked the woman out of the two-person kayak when it hit her in the chest, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported. She climbed back into the kayak and her companion, unable to row her to safety, called for help on his mobile phone. "She had a pretty bad chest wound," the paper quoted one of the rescuers, Captain Kevin Freestone, owner of TowBoatU.S. in Big Pine Key and Cudjoe Key and a member of the Volunteer Fire Department in Big Pine Key. "She was conscious, and she was scared about what had happened to her." The U.S. Coast Guard station in Marathon launched a vessel, but because of the shallowness of the water it was a small boat deployed by TowBoatU.S., which assists vessels in distress, which was able to transport a paramedic to the injured woman and bring her to shore. A helicopter took her to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where she was listed as stable, the Coast Guard said. Barracudas are sleek, swift predators with razor sharp teeth. Other cases of the fish leaping out of the water and biting fishermen and boaters have been reported in Florida.

Em julho uma história semelhante foi relatada por uma família também na Flórida. 

Peixe barracuda salta em barco e ataca adolescente

The Sun

London - Published: 03 Jul 2010

By VIRGINIA WHEELER

Uma menina de 14 anos sofreu o ataque de uma barracuda. Mas Koral Wira não estava no mar. Estava, sim, no iate da família nos arredores de Venice (Flórida, EUA). De acordo com testemunhas, o peixe de dentes afiados saltou ao barco e abocanhou o braço esquerdo da adolescente, que estava sentada, deixando marcas terríveis na pele da jovem. O pai de Karol, Rob Wira, que estava pescando no momento do ataque, fez o relato: "O peixe abocanhou a minha isca para tubarão e, depois, pulou para fora da água, na direção da minha filha. Foi a coisa mais louca que já aconteceu na minha vida. A barracuda atacou a Karol e caiu ao seu lado. Eu a matei com uma faca, enfiada na cabeça, antes que ela matasse um de nós". Para a mãe, Dina, o braço da filha ficou como um "hambúrguer cru": "Foi a coisa mais terrível pela qual passei. A família inteira ficou em choque".