A Maryland woman was stabbed on a boat by a 100-pound sailfish that leapt out of the water as two other passengers were trying to catch the fish off the Florida coast.
The incident happened about two miles off the coast of Stuart, Florida on the morning of July 19, according to a report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman, identified as 70-year-old Katherine Perkins of Arnold, Maryland, told authorities she was stabbed in the groin by the sailfish as she stood next to the centre console. The other two passengers, Louis Toth and Dominic Bellezza said the sailfish appeared to be charging the boat before it jumped out of the water and stabbed Perkins.
“(Perkins) said the incident occurred so fast she did not have time to react,” the report reads.
Toth and Bellezza applied pressure to the wound until they docked an hour later and fire rescue officials tended to Perkins’ injury. She was later taken to a local medical hospital.
Sailfish are among the fastest fish species in the ocean, and they can swim over 60 miles per hour. Like the swordfish, they are recognizable by their extended, pointed bills. They can grow up to 11-feet-long and weigh up to 220 pounds, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Toth and Bellezza told authorities the sailfish weighed an estimated 100 pounds.
