Saw this report of a couple in a canoe attacked by a gator killing the wife in Lake Kissimmee Florida. My aunt and uncle had a fish camp on the south end of the lake and we would spend a week in the summer there with our cousins when we were teens.
We posted about the same time in two threads.
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Was the woman out of the canoe when she was attacked? The story doesn’t make sense if it occured in the canoe.
I’ve seen gators on the Myakka River that were big enough to grab an adult but wasn’t too concerned in the boat.
CBS says they paddled over the 11’ gator in 2 1/2’ of water. The gator thrashed and knocked them out of their canoe.
Probably didn’t even see it 'till it was too late. 
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That makes sense. I had a much smaller gator run into my canoe in shadow water. It tried to swim under and didn’t make it.
This was a tragic encounter, but not an attack. I’ve paddled in that exact spot where Tiger Creek flows into the lake, and it is entirely likely the water wasn’t clear enough to see 2.5 feet down.
News accounts have varied ridiculously, some saying the alligator grabbed the woman out the canoe. Pretty much all reports using the word “attack.”
“This is not believed to be a predatory incident, but just simply an incident of a defensive incident,” FWC spokesman Bradley Johnson said, “where they came upon the alligator beneath the water’s edge, and when the canoe struck, it caused the reaction.”
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Generally speaking, people “attack” other people, and either intentionally attack or inadvertently surprise wild animals (can result in self-defensive actions by the one(s) being or feeling under attack). In the case of wild animals, if and when they “violently” physically engage with us at all, it’s nearly always in sincere self-defense. Either in direct response to an actual attack from a human, or as an instinctual act resulting from surprise and/or perception of immediate danger from the human (could be any other creature, human or otherwise).
At one point in history, Gray whales were called “devil fish” due to their habit of defending themselves against humans trying to kill them and their offspring. Whales defending themselves, and humans playing the victim.
I have countless stories of personal experience with “friendly, curious” whales and dolphins (and yes, Orca, the so-called “killer whales” are not whales at all, but the largest variety of dolphin). Can’t blame them however, if they practice reasonable self-defense. We humans certainly claim that “right” for ourselves, deserved or not, depending on what we’re able to talk ourselves into at any given moment.
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Not only self-defense but acts of predation are nature’s way. This however appears not to be a predatory encounter. However, it is horrific to have the man’s wife taken out by a gator right in front of him and be unable to fend it off.
Marine mammals and crocodilians are wired somewhat differently, and individual animals can respond outside of what is considered normal behavior. It’s best to respect them in any case. Gators of a certain size will view you as potential prey. I have paddled around them for many years even some very large ones and have had no problems with them, but I also don’t try to get close to the big ones. When I hear the young one’s chirp, I back away incase mama is nearby.
A couple of close encounters with small gators unconcerned about us in Okefenokee Swamp.
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Alltough they are not that “wild” anymore here, some kind of swans can be unnecessary violent to people…