A 73-year-old woman was stung by a 45-pound sailfish that jumped out of the water off the coast of Florida. The attack occurred while she was standing in the boat while her two friends tried to pull the fish with fishing line to take pictures. Her friends made sure she was taken to a hospital
A 45-pound sailfish jumped out of the water off the coast of Florida and stabbed a 73-year-old woman as her fellow fishermen tried to catch it into the boat.
Kathryn Perkins of Arnold, Maryland, was injured after the sailfish struck her with its long beak last Tuesday, according to a report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, USA.
The attack happened when she was standing in the boat while her two friends tried to pull the fish with fishing line to take pictures. The incident occurred about three miles off the coast of Stewart, Florida, on the state’s Atlantic coast north of Palm Beach, the sheriff’s office said in a report.
Her shipmates 75-year-old Louis Toth and 77-year-old Dominic Belza applied pressure to her wound, and she was taken to a hospital for treatment. Her condition was not reported. The woman told Coast Guard personnel that the stabbing happened so quickly that she did not have time to react.
Sailfish is one of the fastest fish species in the ocean. And just like swordfish, they have long, pointed beaks. The fish are almost always released if they come up at the fishermen’s choice, although Florida regulations allow anglers to catch one per day.