Stingrays don't attack people?

Just the idea of aquatic animals leaping out of their element disturbs my harmony. If jumping sharks weren't enough to keep me out of the water (which they are), airborne stingrays just sealed the deal.

Experts keep saying it = stingrays don't attack people. Cornered or stepped on, they'll defend themselves in the water. They'll jump to escape predators, give birth or remove parasites. Really? Hmmmm.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say = rays didn't used to attack people.

While recent ray aggression isn't natural terrorism, I do have to wonder what it's about. The odds of one randomly flying out of the water and striking a person has to be tiny … the chance of it happening twice, super-microscopic. Even on a high traffic boating day, we're not talking shoulder to shoulder population density here.

What if ray assaults are gravitations? Is it possible for rays to respond to some signal or force we don't know about? Could they be honing in on people in some strange manner akin to a laser guided missile? Yeah, yeah … I know how airy fairy that sounds, but …

Is it feasible stingrays are fleeing a waterborne vibration or tone? Are there reports of lots of rays jumping? If a lot of them are taking wing, the chance of someone being in the flight path goes up a bit. If there aren't many leaping, it seems remote they'd land on anything. Maybe humans are emitting a homing signal?

Alas, I only wonder … I certainly don't know. However … the 'wrong place at the wrong time' explanation is a bit much to swallow. Even if there's a newfangled boat or motor noise setting stingrays off, a person simply doesn't make much of a target at sea. It's high strangeness.

Recent stingray assaults:

March 19 2008 … Florida Keys
… stingray lept out of water killing Judy Kay Zagorski as she was sunbathing on a boat
… expert synopsis = rays don't attack, they only jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites

Oct 18 2006 … Ft Lauderdale area, Florida coast
… stingray jumps into a boat and stings James Bertakis in the heart; he lived
… experts crawled out of the woodwork to say = freakish accident, rays don't jump, the man must have caught it and lugged it onboard; it was irritated and fought back

Sept 4, 2006 … Great Barrier Reef ...
… stingray kills Steve Irwin, wildlife advocate and television personality, by stabbing him in heart
… reports = freakish accident, he swan too close, threatened the ray, boxed it in; the ray defended itself