One More Thing To Be Frightened Of: Horrific Back-Stabbing Needlefish

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Needlefish with jaws open, close-up

Jeff Rotman

Even its name is ghastly. “Needlefish”? With a name like that, why didn’t we anticipate it going on a stabbing spree?

A weekend adventure was cut short by dramatic ichthyic violence this past Sunday, as 46-year-old Karri Larson found herself on the wrong side of an chance encounter with a Florida Keys needlefish. Larson and her boyfriend Michael were kayaking through the region’s mangroves when a four-foot-long fish jumped out of the water into the boat, its razor-sharp beak stabbing Larson in the back. According to Michael’s 911 call, the attack left Larson with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

After a harrowing 30-minute wait for help to arrive, Larson and Michael were rescued by a local towboater. Larson is currently in stable condition.

The encounter sheds a light on the unknown dangers lurking in the outside world that most people are unaware of. NewsFeed had never heard of needlefish before this, but after a small amount of research we are terrified of them! Researchers have clocked them jumping out from under the surface of the water at 38 miles per hour! One needlefish even killed a teenage boy who was swimming in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay in September 2007! (That’s only four months before NewsFeed was there!)

Though we wouldn’t put needlefish on the level of barricuda, alligators, crocodiles, tiger sharks, great white sharks, hammerhead sharks, nurse sharks and lampreys (oh God, the lampreys!) we are still on high alert to this new threat. You won’t get us near the water unless we’re wearing a full on suit of armor. (via CBS News)