Boat passenger struck by net line in Little Peconic Bay, cops say

A woman suffered severe facial and mouth injuries when she was struck by a net line churned up by a boat Sunday in Little Peconic Bay, Southampton Town Police said.

The 69-year-old woman, identified by police as Emily Jackson of Southampton, was a passenger on a 34-foot 2003 Baha being operated by a 45-year-old man from Sag Harbor when, police said the operator told them, he struck "an object in the bay" at around 7 p.m.

Police said the object was a 50-foot-long-line strung between two poles anchoring a pound net about 1,000 feet from shore -- and said the line whipped out of the water, striking the victim in the face.

The vessel was making its way east to west in Little Peconic just west of Jessup's Neck.

A crew from Southampton Volunteer Ambulance responded to the scene.

It was not immediately clear if the pound nets, used to corral fish in the area, were legally placed or marked. Police said an investigation into the cause of the incident is continuing.