LAST MONTH'S STINGRAY ASSAULT ON "CROCODILE HUNTER" STEVE IRWIN TRIGGERS IMITATOR ATTACKS BY STINGRAYS SEEKING NOTORIETY, SAYS EXPERTLIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. - An 81-year-old boater was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stabbed him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest, authorities said. The attack came just four weeks after the one that killed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.
Dr. Velveeta Lugosi-Alou, who has tracked stingray attacks for three decades, said that whenever a high profile attack is given media coverage around the world, as Steve Irwin's attack was, it triggers other stingrays to seek similar notoriety, often using the same methods and leaving similar victims. "That's what happened here," she said.
"I don't think we've seen the end of the cycle," Dr. Lugosi-Alou warned. "For the next several weeks, boaters and divers need to be very careful of imitation assaults."
