Sailfish leaps out of water and stabs 70-year-old woman in groin, authorities say

• A sailfish, weighing approximately 100 pounds, jumped out of the water and impaled a 70-year-old woman.
• She was stabbed in the groin with the sailfish's sharp bill, authorities say.

A sailfish, weighing approximately 100 pounds, leaped out of the water and stabbed a 70-year-old woman near the Florida coast on Tuesday, authorities said.

The sailfish stabbed Katherine Perkins from Maryland in the groin area with its sharp bill, according to a report from Martin County Sheriff's Office, per Metro.

Perkins was impaled while she was trying to reel the sailfish in on a fishing line, the sheriff's office report said, according tothe Associated Press. Sailfish are prized as game fish.

The woman and her two companions were on a boat about two miles offshore from Stuart on Florida's Atlantic Coast when the incident occurred, Metro reported.

Perkins told deputies that the attack happened at such an astonishing speed that she didn't have time to react, according to the sheriff's report, per AP.

Her companions applied pressure to the wound, news agency said. The 70-year-old woman was later taken into Stuart for medical treatment, according to AP.

Sailfish are known for their rapid speed, large dorsal fins, and sword-like bills. The sharp bills,,which have small tooth-like protrusions on them, are sometimes used to slash and jab at prey.

The fish can weigh up to 220 lbs and can measure up to 11 feet.

According to National Geographic, sailfish regularly fight forcefully after being hooked and can take hours to land.