fish punctures kayaker's lung

[Lee Borgersen]

Leaping fish punctures kayaker's lung

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MARATHON — A marine mystery unfolded in the Florida Keys on Sunday, when something leapt from the water, punctured the lung of a woman in a kayak and returned to the ocean.

Karri Larson, 46, of Cudjoe Key, was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she was listed Monday afternoon in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit.

It’s unclear what attacked her. Several species are capable of leaping from the water, but only a few can inflict that sort of injury. Unlike other incidents of this sort, the creature didn’t remain in the boat to be identified but disappeared over the side.

The Coast Guard issued a news release blaming her injury on a barracuda. But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission disagreed. FWC Officer Robert Dube said, “It was definitely not a barracuda. She was struck by some species from the water. Nobody saw it. We can only speculate at this time.”

Among the possibilities, experts say, is the houndfish, a species that has been known on rare occasion to leap out of the water and injure people. Although the houndfish lacks the barracuda’s sinister appearance, it has a needle-like snout that can penetrate human flesh.

“It sounds like a houndfish,” said Jason Schratwieser, conservation director of the International Game Fish Association. “Those things have been known to jump out and impale people.”

The kayakers were on a “real nice Sunday afternoon kayak ride,” paddling past pristine wilderness near Big Pine Key, said Capt. Kevin Freestone, owner of TowBoatU.S. in Big Pine Key and Cudjoe Key and a member of the Big Pine Key Volunteer Fire Department.

They then saw “quite a big fish that was skipping across the water,” Freestone said. “Lo and behold, it went and hit her. Crazy.”

The fish, which the kayakers estimated was about four feet long, knocked Larson from their two-person watercraft, but she climbed back in, Freestone said.

The man, unable to row to shore fearing it would further harm the injured Larson, phoned for help. Freestone and other rescuers reached them on two boats and took them to safety.

Larson was taken to Dolphin Marina, and then taken by helicopter to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Boats never have been an entirely safe haven from marine creatures. Although such incidents are extremely rare, Florida boaters have been injured by sturgeon, spotted eagle rays and other species leaping into their vessels.

“There are several species of fish that will jump out of the water in South Florida,” said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “The barracuda is certainly one, the houndfish is certainly one, and the king mackerel will jump out of the water. The most likely one of the three is the houndfish. The houndfish and other needlefish are known and documented to get embedded in humans.”

Ten years ago, a houndfish seriously injured a 17-year-old girl standing in chest-deep water near the site of Sunday’s incident. The fish leapt from the water and stabbed her, breaking its bill off in her neck. It had to be surgically removed.

She underwent speech therapy to restore her damaged vocal cords, and was left with a 6-inch scar that runs from her left ear down toward her collarbone, the St. Petersburg Times reported in 2000.

Stephanie Mittler’s accident drew national attention, including calls from David Letterman’s show and NBC’s “Dateline.”

But despite all the talk Monday of the houndfish, Capt. Tom Zsak, a charter boat operator out of Fort Lauderdale, said a barracuda still sounded like the most likely suspect. They are a common species, aggressive biters and known to leap several feet out of the water while chasing fish.

“We call them the saber tooth tiger of the ocean,” he said. “Here in Fort Lauderdale I see it when they’re chasing baitfish, I’ve seen them a good four or five feet out of the water. A person would be mangled pretty good by a barracuda bite.”