MIAMI , Florida ( CNN ) -- A woman on a boat died after a spotted eagle ray leaped from the water off the Florida Keys Thursday and struck her , officials said . The dead spotted eagle ray lies on the deck of a boat in Florida . The force of the blow pushed the woman backward and she died when she hit her head on the boat deck , officials said . `` It 's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard , '' said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission . `` The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened . '' The commission identified the woman as Judy Kay Zagorski , 57 , of Pigeon , Michigan . The woman was seated or standing in the front of the boat as it traveled at about 25 mph out of a channel , Pino said . `` The ray just actually popped up in front of the vessel , '' he said . `` The father had not even a second to react . It was too late . It happened instantly and the woman fell backwards and , unfortunately , died as a result of the collision . '' The accident happened off the coast of Marathon , about 2½ hours by car south of Miami . The woman , who was with her father and several other family members and friends , was taken to Fisherman Hospital in Marathon , where she was pronounced dead . Watch marine officers work around dead ray on boat » . Pino said he had seen rays leap into the air , but added , `` it 's very rare for them to collide with objects . '' Watch experts explain why eagle rays leap » . The spotted eagle ray weighed about 75 to 80 pounds and had a 6-foot wingspan , said Pino . Watch officials investigate eagle ray collision » . Florida Fish and Wildlife said eagle rays `` are not an aggressive species , but they do tend to leap from the water . '' Spotted eagle rays can have a wingspan of up to 10 feet and can weigh 500 pounds , it said . Learn more about eagle rays » . Television personality Steve Irwin was killed when a ray 's barb pierced his heart in September 2006 . A month later , an 81-year-old Florida man , James Bertakis , survived after a ray leapt from the water and stung him in the heart , according to the Orlando Sentinel . He spent five weeks on a ventilator and his recovery took several months , his sons told the Detroit Free Press in his former home state of Michigan . E-mail to a friend .
NEW : Woman 's death result of impact after fish strikes her on boat , officials say . Victim was 57-year-old woman from Michigan . Comment: Woman , who was with her father and family , was pronounced dead at hospital .