I am respectful of but not afraid of stingrays, but here is another freaky story:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/19/stingray.reut/index.html

wow....weird

really, how unusual.

do you think mother nature is really peeved at us by now, and starting to fight back?

Typical news - half right. Ray shown on TV was not a stingray, picture at that Cnn site is doctored because it is a stingray with painted on blue dots. Lt somebody says rays rarely jump. I lived in Miami for 5 years spent many weekends at Virginia Key and saw them jumping frequently - were probably not stingrays but cownose or eagle rays. the Pass between Virginia Key and Key Biscayne was full of different rays during Fall and Winter months.
Grandpa got a one in 10 million chance of an evnt like that happening! Just MHO! (but pretty freaky)

The species that stung this fellow was a spotted eagle ray, very common in Belize waters and much admired by divers, less commonly seen by snorkelers.

I heard of an incident like that years ago here on the island where a guy got stung by a leaping ray in the shoulder area...they had to cut the bony stinger out. Full recovery. Water was rough, he was in a skiff, viz. was poor and the ray got panicked and disoriented when it jumped and flapped about.

It's already started SJ. Be afraid, be very afraid.
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/15227709.htm

OMG, even the fish are attacking!!!

thanks, PB. that gave me a good chuckle (on the surface. inside i AM very afraid. what's next, fire & brimstone? killer squid? poison dart slugs?)

Note to self: Pack bulletproof snorkel vest in suitcase tonite for trip to San Pedro tomorrow.

From the AP article. This sounds a bit more plausible than a rogue stingray.

"Bertakis was apparently trying to remove the spotted eagle ray from the boat when he was stung, police Cmdr. Mike Oh said. The ray was approximately 3 feet across and 18 to 24 inches long, Oh said. Officials have kept the dead ray in case doctors need to examine it, Oh said."

Rykat, that picture isn't doctored. It's a picture of a ray from the other side of the world.
No joke.

So you were right about the media portrayal being bogus. They just got the picture from the wrong ocean.