What fools we've been -- sharks, giant squid, killer whales... we've been so obsessed with the giant teeth and beaks of certain sea creatures that we missed the peril in our midst. First they came for Steve Irwin -- so that we would have no one to defend us. I have had my own close encounter with a sting ray. It was back in the summer of 1990. I was snorkeling in the bay of Catalina Island, off the coast of California, and I luckily dodged one that headed straight for me down a narrow channel between two rock formations. Perhaps ... if only I hadn't been so blessed, thousands could have been saved. For now, just hours ago, according to a story that just dropped on the Miami Herald's web site, a sting ray actually LEAPED FROM THE WATER AND STABBED A BOATER IN THE CHEST.