Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Vulcan on September 03, 2006, 11:51:37 PM
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Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead
04 September 2006
BREAKING NEWS: 4.40pm
Television personality and environmentalist Steve Irwin has died in a marine accident in north Queensland, Australian state government sources say.
According to AAP the 44-year-old is believed to have been killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest.
He was filming an underwater documentary off Port Douglas when the accident occurred says AAP.
Mr Irwin's body was being flown to Cairns.
Cripes! I often swim around some very large stingrays when I go fishing near our place (I never try to catch rays... they break your rod).
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Crikey! that sucks.
I really enjoyed his outgoing style and sincere enthusiasm for learning about and protecting the natural world around us. Australia has lost one of her leading men :cry
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Holy crap!
:(
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Why am I not surprised.
You just knew that one day. This guy was going to take one chance too many
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Originally posted by Vulcan
killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest
:O
man! what a way to go!
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Kinda sad really, I visited australia zoo when I was a teen before he became 'famous'. The guy was quite active in wildlife preservation without being annoying like a peta-tard.
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The only reason this is a big story is that EVERYONE who's watched him has wondered when it'd finally happen.
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ya...always enjoyed his show when I saw it
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Originally posted by Yeager
I really enjoyed his outgoing style and sincere enthusiasm for learning about and protecting the natural world around us. Australia has lost one of her leading men :cry
Couldn't have summed it up better.
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a <
> to Mr. Steve Irwin
"moment of silence"
"Australian National Anthem plays"
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How about....thoughts and prayers....he leaves behind a young daughter as well. Me and my little girl enjoyed watching him together.
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rgr that.
He leaves behind a wife, daughter and son.
thoughts sent....
sad news:(
RTR
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may he rest in peace.
he was a good man.
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:(
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well he died doing what he loves best just like the guy who got ate by the bears. its really too bad though i bet the string ray was pist when he found ouy it was him.
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Originally posted by Innominate
The only reason this is a big story is that EVERYONE who's watched him has wondered when it'd finally happen.
I hate to agree...but you're right.
Sad, as someone else mentioned, he had a nice wife and kids who have been on his TV shows
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Ya I loved watching his shows. Too bad but atleast he bought it doing what he loved.
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Originally posted by Innominate
The only reason this is a big story is that EVERYONE who's watched him has wondered when it'd finally happen.
Ummmmm, no. Some of us are actually big fans of his work in the animal community.
RIP Steve, you'll be missed
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Originally posted by Cougar68
Ummmmm, no. Some of us are actually big fans of his work in the animal community.
Don't get me wrong. The guy was a true conservationist, and one of the few (even minor) celebrities who was still a Good Guy.
But if not for the danger he put himself in, the story wouldn't spread like it has. It began covering the internet about a half an hour before the first news outlet reported it.
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:( :(
such a shame.
his part in south park was great "today kids, im gonna wrestle this crocodile and stick my thumb up its arse to piss it off!"
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:(
this sucks
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rest in peace Steve
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Shame on a lot of you...So do you criticize the death's of others who choose a very dangerous career??? For example a soldier???? Is that another one of your "its a dangerous line of work, and I hate to say it, but I told ya so's"????
World lost a good man today
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Crikey !!! (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNNC36mhowR8&refer=home) :( :( :(
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well that sucks he was a cool guy :(
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Don't get bent out of shape guys...
I think he did a great service to everyone by bringing awareness of wildlife and nature to the masses in an entertaining way that kept everyone's attention long enough to teach them something, but on the other hand ever since I first watched his show I've been wondering when he'd make a fatal mistake. I've seen him get bit by snakes and make near-fatal mistakes with crocs so many times that, just like people here are pointing out, the whole world has been waiting for him to die filming his next show.
Nobody wanted to see it, but frankly I'm amazed he lived as long as he did. He wasn't an idiot like that guy who hung out with bears until they ate him, but he was taking a lot of risks and it was just a matter of time before he got caught by something that would kill him.
I'm sad he's gone and I think the world is worse off without him, but with the risks he was taking and the number of close calls he had every year, it was only a matter of time.
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stingrays have venom and such but the news is reporting it as a peicing type wound, cant believe how that would occur
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R.I.P. Steve.
We all knew it had to happen one day so im not too sad or suprised.
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Pooh,
A stingray barb can be a few inches long. It's unlikely that anything but an extremely unlucky jab would puncture anything bad enough for the wound itself to kill an adult human, but a chest or head puncture plus the venom/poison could easily kill someone. Stingrays don't have a rep as man-killers because people usually just step on one and get nailed in the foot or lower leg, and that is extremely painful but won't usually kill. Even a small child will usually live from a stingray jab in the foot or leg. But in the chest... That would be bad.
He was probably chasing one down or trying to handle one and it got pissed and whipped the barb into his chest. They are almost never aggressive with the barb unless you step on one or it feels very threatened or trapped. I've seen videos divers attacked by stingrays, but in those cases the stingrays never even used their barbs. They just did the whole smother and try to suck your arm or face thing which is essentially harmless unless you overreact and provoke it into stinging you.
At sea world, they used to surgically remove the barbs from stingrays that their divers would handle during shows. I don't think there is any safe way to handle a stingray that still has it's barb because if you're touching it anywhere (except firmly holding onto the tip of it's tail) it can stick you.
I swam around stingrays on numerous occasions while growing up, and I never dared swim closer than about 6 ft. I'd mess with the little sand sharks but pretty much left the stingrays alone.
Some divemasters and dive tour guides will do a feed-the-stingrays bit but those rays have usually been conditioned by repeated exposure to divers, so they're a lot more tolerant to being touched and fed. I wonder if that's what was going on here.
As a diver I admit to being curious about the details and I'd like to see the video from an educational perspective, but I doubt it'll ever be shown in it's entirety.
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Originally posted by eagl
Don't get bent out of shape guys...
I'm sad he's gone and I think the world is worse off without him, but with the risks he was taking and the number of close calls he had every year, it was only a matter of time.
This just in - its only a matter of time for all of us. Some of us just have a boring wait.
Crikey!
RIP Steve
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Originally posted by Pooh21
stingrays have venom and such but the news is reporting it as a peicing type wound, cant believe how that would occur
from what I heard it was a really big stingray....methinks to do that kind of damage the barb must have been at least 6 in long....making the ray about....ahhh gross estimate of maybe 5-7 foot long ray
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Mako, I wouldn't believe the media about this, at least not yet. They're saying he was pierced "through" the chest... That would mean a barb about 12 inches long. Maybe they grow them bigger near Australia but that's about double the length I thought they could possibly get.
I suspect the media is reporting a distorted version of what happened. Getting nailed "in" the chest, yea, that could happen and could easily kill someone. "through" the chest? Not very likely to occur in the first place, and the venom would probably do the damage, not the stab wound itself unless it was in the exact right (wrong) spot.
edit - Found references for stingrays that grow in excess of 7 ft in span... I could see the barb on one of those getting pretty big but still, going "through" someones chest seems pretty unlikely.
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The report I read said it was a freak accident that the ray got him in the chest, and that he died of cardiac arrest shortly after. He was very unlucky, apparently deaths due to stingrays are not very common.
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Originally posted by eagl
Mako, I wouldn't believe the media about this, at least not yet. They're saying he was pierced "through" the chest... That would mean a barb about 12 inches long.
Cardiac needles need not be that long. A needle 10 cm probably could put drugs into a typ human heart, so a ray barb 4" long could put venom into the heart muscle.
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Holden,
That's exactly my point. Sticking the barb "into" the chest or heart doesn't take a very long barb. Putting it entirely "through" the chest, as the news media have been reporting however, would take a much longer barb.
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Originally posted by eagl
Holden,
That's exactly my point. Sticking the barb "into" the chest or heart doesn't take a very long barb. Putting it entirely "through" the chest, as the news media have been reporting however, would take a much longer barb.
i think what they mean by going through his chest was that it went right into him, not all the way out the other side. apparently it was a big ray and the poison went right into his heart, very unlucky :(
RIP steve, you'll be missed a great deal
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I will miss the guy. He was a true conservationist, and a friend to the environment. I do believe he was a bit risky in some of the things he did, but I don't blame him for it. You could tell it was in his blood, like he couldn't control himself. Just got too excited. I have some of that same excitement about nature in me as well.
Anyway, you guys wouldn't believe how big stringrays can get. The barbs can grow extremely big. Here is a link to one caught on the texas coast just this weekend, and I would guess they get much bigger in Australia. Definately have to be careful.
http://extremecoast.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6767
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Well, Steve was reckless. Pure and simple. Reckless to the point of foolhardiness.
Wasn't he recently criticised for holding his young child over a crocodile pen or something?
Reckless.
Which seems to be a mark of, or rite of passage of, so many of today's "wildlife experts."
Sure, Steve worked to increase people's awareness of the world's wildlife and promote environmental issues, but his recklessness indicated to me that he did not have a proper respect for that wildlife. The type of respect that is born of awe, and is grounded in fear.
I'm afraid I don't have much respect for fearlessness, except in those instances when someone displays it in an act of selfless heroism and sacrifice on behalf of others.
This new breed of wildlife expert had its genesis in the likes of people such as Marlin Perkins of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television series. Marlin and his sidekicks Stan and Jim were portrayed as daring he-men who grappled with dangerous beasts, all in the name of wildlife preservation. What the viewer did not know, and what the Marlin and the producers of the show took pains to conceal, was that behind the cameras there was an experienced big-game hunter with a rifle to insure the safety of those same he-men.
Yet modern urbanite viewers ate it up. Marlin's example undoubtedly encouraged an entire generation of young wildlife enthusiasts to do the same.
While these men have raised the public's awareness of vital environmental and wildlife issues they have also created in that public a view of the wild that is terribly skewed, and have encouraged reckless behavior with animals that is based on a lack of knowledge of the true nature of the wild.
Wild animals aren't cute or blessed with human virtues of compassion or ethereal notions of nobility. They are wild...and wild is dangerous. Not can be or maybe...ARE dangerous.
Uncounted millions of our ancestors were devoured by creatures of the wild. Anthropologists have found many skeletons of our hominid ancestors that were killed by leopards, who inserted two fangs dirtectly through the eye sockets into the brain. I once read an article on the depradations wrought by tigers amongst the popuplations of India. The British government estimated that during the nineteenth century, tigers killed more than a million people in India.
Witness what happened to the feather-brained grisly man and his girlfriend. I never equated what he did with bravery. He was an idiot...and his idiocy got him killed, along with his girl friend. Yet the modern media is trying to portray him as "brave" and "concerned."
Balderdash. The man was a freak...with a sense of self-preservation that had been completely neutered by modern environmental notions.
Combine that with an unbridled thrill-seeking and risk-taking mentality and you have a recipe for disaster...and a dangerous example for young people who see these twits being held up as heroes.
Perhaps I'm getting crotchety in my old age, but I have never suffered this type of fool gladly, and I won't get on the bandwagon with others who are trumpeting their bravery, or their "contributions to environmental awareness." That would just help get some other human beings killed.
Steve's death is a tragedy. I liked him and his program. He leaves behind a wife and child who will have to make sense of all of this and piece their lives back together.
But make no mistake about it....he must bear the burden of responsiblity for his own death....for he was foolish and reckless.
Regards, Shuckins
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Originally posted by BTW
This just in - its only a matter of time for all of us. Some of us just have a boring wait.
Crikey!
RIP Steve
LOL C'mon guys. Kinda splitting hairs here with the in the chest/through the chest debate.
Also, yes, its terrible whenever someone dies of anything less then old age.
But...
We've all seen his shows.
And the idiotic stunts he used to perform.
and doesnt anyone remember the moronic stunt he did with his baby and the croc?
This was entirely predictable. The only question was with which animal it was going to be he pressed his luck one time too many with.
You will excuse me if I dont boo hoo hoo over this clown.
Personally I thought he was a suicidal idiot.
He F***ed with wildlife one time to many and he lost
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Originally posted by Shuckins
Well, Steve was reckless. Pure and simple. Reckless to the point of foolhardiness.
Wasn't he recently criticised for holding his young child over a crocodile pen or something?
Regards, Shuckins
no he placed his kid IN the Croc pen.
Said he didnt want the kid to be afraid fo the crocs.
Now it may be just me. But ti seems to me thats the kind of thing if your going to teach a kid. You teach them when they are a bit older and are able to understand that if you get too close to a croc it may decide to eat you.
My concern when I heard of this event wasnt of the danger at that moment.
But rather later when the kid is crawling around on his own and decides to visit the croc BECAUSE he isnt afraid of it.
Some fears, like some scars are good
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that had to be painful as hell
I took a barb from a 3ft ray couple of years ago in between my thumb and forefinger. It hurt for hours and almost took myself to the ER as the pain spread up under my right armpit.
Peace to his family and friends
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fear better than scars
Yes, irrationality is the better method. Gaia had the last word!
Strike another one against those damn educational daredevils..
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Whatever you guys think he still went out doing his job that he loved and that is what really counts for me. If he didn't like being out in the wild chasing down various animals then we would not be able to sit here debating his sanity.
God Bless the Irwin Family and Steve Irwin. Your shows brought laughter, and learning to my family as well as amazement that you could get away with some of the things you did with animals all over the world.
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I'm very sad to hear this...
:(
I didn't think stingrays were very aggressive.
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Originally posted by Shuckins
blah blah blah blah
You been saving this up for Steve or what? Windbag.:rolleyes:
God Bless the Irwin Family and Steve Irwin. Your shows brought laughter, and learning to my family as well as amazement that you could get away with some of the things you did with animals all over the world.
Exactly Reschke. Good bye Steve and thank you.
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Originally posted by Reschke
Whatever you guys think he still went out doing his job that he loved and that is what really counts for me. If he didn't like being out in the wild chasing down various animals then we would not be able to sit here debating his sanity.
God Bless the Irwin Family and Steve Irwin. Your shows brought laughter, and learning to my family as well as amazement that you could get away with some of the things you did with animals all over the world.
I dont see where there can be any debate whatsoever about his sanity.
LMAO
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I would have rather seen one of the wild boys get it. I bet he let is guard down while dealing with the docile stingrays. I've seen him tackle 20 foot crocs in order to save them from a dying pond. Really is a shame. I guess he died doin what he loved, if thats any silver lining.
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"Also, yes, its terrible whenever someone dies of anything less then old age."
Take my word for it, getting old is pretty terrible too.
A professional who does a dangerous job is aware of the risk--and also keenly aware that the odds can eventually catch up to him.
At any rate, life doesn't come with a gaurantee. You might get mangled by a drunk driver next week. I've come within about a millimeter of being dead, and others on this BBS have come closer than that. Make sure you tell your wife you love her when you leave in the morning, and try to live each day as best you can. I'd say Steve Irwin lived his life pretty dang well.
J_A_B
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Originally posted by J_A_B
"Also, yes, its terrible whenever someone dies of anything less then old age."
Take my word for it, getting old is pretty terrible too.
A professional who does a dangerous job is aware of the risk--and also keenly aware that the odds can eventually catch up to him.
At any rate, life doesn't come with a gaurantee. You might get mangled by a drunk driver next week. I've come within about a millimeter of being dead, and others on this BBS have come closer than that. Make sure you tell your wife you love her when you leave in the morning, and try to live each day as best you can. I'd say Steve Irwin lived his life pretty dang well.
J_A_B
I agree. Just think of all the wonderful places that man has seen and all the wonderful things he experienced. You think he'd trade those to live a routine life until he was 82.5 years old?
I don't like the lab rat mentality of medicine where people spend there lives not doing things ( don't eat meat, don't drink, don't smoke, don't run on slippery surfaces, don't dive from a railing, don't don't don't...) so they become a puttering old man that no one comes to visit. Screw that. Carpe diem and all that:aok
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Sorry to give offense Slash, but all the pc bs on here about stuff like this bores me silly.
Steve's wife and child have got to adjust to a life without him. He could have done his job without taking so many idiotic risks. His absence will leave an aching void that nothing will ever adequately fill.
He may have died doing what he loved to do...but he still died...and it was a death preordained by his recklessness. This isn't just about him...it's about the family members who have a lot of time and love tied up in him...who now have nothing.
Or do you actually believe that he died happy? I seriously doubt it. He may have been shocked and in agony, but I don't believe he thought, "Well, that's the way it goes...I'm happy to go out this way."
And I'm not going to idolize an individual who places his toddler in a pen with live crocs.
The example he set for the young and the impressionable is not praiseworthy. It is irresponsible and dangerous.
Regards, Shuckins
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(http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/Michael75229/d8jtro8o0.jpg)
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Besides those few stunts (any more and I'd agree they weren't flukes), what he did was good.
You really can't say that he didn't think just that, as he died.
For his children, it will certainly leave a big hole, but his wife knew what she was getting on for.
The good he did doesn't excuse the mistakes he might have made, but if they're of the extent we know (a few goofball oddities like the babe vs croc thing), they aren't anywhere near outweighing the good.
Who hasn't made mistakes?
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RIP. We enjoyed watching him. Our friend from down under used to say "We all think he's just plane nuts, but that draws ratings...."
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Originally posted by Pooh21
stingrays have venom and such but the news is reporting it as a peicing type wound, cant believe how that would occur
the stingray barb is sharp like a stiletto
(http://files.tellmewhereonearth.com/Photos%20Fossils/stingray%20barb-australia.JPG)
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RIP
The Steve Irwins die and the Ted Nugents live.
so much for Karma.
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I learned a lot watching his show, and I watched only because he was an entertainer. :(
I'll miss him.
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He may have died doing what he loved to do...but he still died...and it was a death preordained by his recklessness.
We don't know any details about how he died. Yet you are claiming he died becuase he was reckless. It's quite rare for someone to die from contact with a stingray. Steve's been around much more dangerous animals in the past...
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He died doing what he loved, sadly, dangerous stunts.
I feel more remorse for the young family he leaves behind.
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According to CNN news, Steve was stabbed while riding on the back of a stingray during the course of filming a documentary.
Steve was a good man and a great enteretainer. I hate that he is no longer with us. I wish it hadn't happened, for his sake as well as his family's.
Yet, now that he's gone, must we treat all of his actions as sacrosanct because of the "nobility" of his cause?
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I just think it's inaccurate to reduce a post mortem portrait of him to just a few misjudgments and his overzealousness as reprehensible when it, as far as I can tell, was genuinely optimistic.
You can't fault the same kids you say shouldn't look up to his recklessness for looking up to his non stop grinning bouyancy, whatever the situation.
Genius or not, if your attitude in life sucks, you'll never be all you can be.
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Originally posted by Shuckins
Sorry to give offense Slash, but all the pc bs on here about stuff like this bores me silly.
Steve's wife and child have got to adjust to a life without him. He could have done his job without taking so many idiotic risks. His absence will leave an aching void that nothing will ever adequately fill.
He may have died doing what he loved to do...but he still died...and it was a death preordained by his recklessness. This isn't just about him...it's about the family members who have a lot of time and love tied up in him...who now have nothing.
Or do you actually believe that he died happy? I seriously doubt it. He may have been shocked and in agony, but I don't believe he thought, "Well, that's the way it goes...I'm happy to go out this way."
And I'm not going to idolize an individual who places his toddler in a pen with live crocs.
The example he set for the young and the impressionable is not praiseworthy. It is irresponsible and dangerous.
Regards, Shuckins
I agree with a lot of what you say. But, I think he was probably a very good person who made a big mistake based on overconfidence. His wife and kids will pay the biggest price for his selfish recklessness.
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Hi All,
Sad news. I know I should have expected this, after all you can only play the wildlife version of Russian Roulette for so long, but it surprised me none-the-less. Croc hunter was one of the few non-animated shows I enjoyed watching with my kids. He was definitely a great showman, even if he did take risks I would never have considered myself. Never thought it would be a Stingray that got him though, ah well, "...no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them." (Eccles. 10:12)
Just a couple of clarifications regarding the discussion:
ABC is reporting the following - "While filming a new documentary, the Animal Planet star was stung in the heart by a stingray's sharp, toxin-filled barbs.
Paramedics were helicoptered in, but it was too late.
Doctors believe Irwin likely died instantly."
Better than being eaten by something, or dying slowly from a venomous snake bite, etc. I suppose.
Also, regarding the kid/croc incident in 2004, he didn't allow his toddler to crawl around, he carried his newborn son Robert into a Croc pen at Australia Zoo with him and was a few feet from them. Personally, I think it was unnecessarily dangerous, but I think Irwin had gotten so used to being close to Crocs that while he remembered that they were dangerous in theory, his long experience led him to play down the "whoops" factor and the unpredictability of wild animals.
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While I feel sorry for his wife and child I can't feel sorry for Steve Irwin himself. Considering the number and variety of dangerous animals that he harrassed to up the entertainment value of his television shows it was only a matter of time until one of them killed him. Sometimes the price of stupidity is death. I'm surprised he lived as long as he did.
asw
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Steve Irwin made animal shows interesting, he raised awareness about endangered animals and educated people on how dangerous animals can be overcome when treated with respect.
He is a legend.
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"now this, right here, is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world, a single bite could kill you....lets just see if we can piss it off"
RIP, steve.
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After reading a couple more comments, I'm sure as hell glad im not actually friends with some of you...
If anyone has ever traveled to the Cayman Islands, then surely you have heard all the hype about Sting Ray City, if not visited one of it's dive spots...I have swam with stingray's on seven different occasions in the Caymans ranging from deep water scuba to sandbar snorkle...My first time diving with them was 8 or 9 years old in mid water, 15-20 feet with a snorkle...In retrospect, after dreidock's "words of wisdom" on this subject, I really should shun my mother and grandfather for taking me along on this trip at such a young age...What terrible people to put me on such an unnecessary risk, and it would only have been a matter of time before dreidock could say "I told you so"........
I never found any of the "sting ray city" sting rays to be aggressive. Granted these stingers quit possibly are the most domesticated in the world, and wouldnt dare harm a human (food source)...
***Man...Airshow pilot's, any type of spectator car drivers, and matador's are idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares how much they are pursuing a lifes dream (other then being wanna be pilots on a computer)...They are moron's, and I hate to say it but "i told you so"
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steve you will be missed.
gotta agree with cav here. some of you guys are really cavalier in your proclomations. The man did more in his lifetime than probably all of us put together, and some of you armchair quarterbacks can only sit there with the "i told ya so" BS. Some of ya are downright embarrassing.
I never got a chance to meet steve and I had planned on going to australia next year and seeing the australia zoo. He was a great entertainer and made HUGE strides in animal conservation. And bringing some of the fundamentale issues into the limelite with the population of the whole planet. I dont think there are to many places you can go on GOD's green earth where they havent heard of the croc hunter.
I always liked watching his shows. Even when a "former" GF told me once that it was just a "kids" show and real men dont watch it. pffft i told her that any guy who can wrestle a 20 ft croc into the back of a pickup is damn sure tough enough for me...
His yearly outtakes from his show were always funny as hell to.
And the old fedex commercial he did had me in tears! im sure it will resurface on the web sometime in the next few days
One of my favorite outtakes was when he and terri first got together and they went into the outback. She had to go have a "private" moment , took some TP then after a few seconds came running back to steve yelling "theres a HUGE snake by that tree!! irwin dashes off with all the exitment and wonder of a 10 yr old and comes back with this huge snake explaining its the worlds 3rd deadliest and how beautiful she was....the whole time terri in the background his hopping from foot to foot with that "i gotta peee!!!" look on her face and trailing half a role of TP behind her it was pretty hilarious...least i thought so:lol
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oh and BTW they are saying now that the barb didnt go THRU his chest it entered under his ribcage and peirced his heart. very freakish accident.
I also read it was approx 10 inches long, ill post the report when i locate it again
EDIT:...found it. Its rather long so ill just paste the pertinet info:
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time
Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.
Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.
"It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said.
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Steve Irwin was no different than the airshow pilot or skydiver that meets an unfortunate end. Except for the fact that the work he did made enormous strides in animal awareness and conservation. He took calculated risks and definitely pushed things to the extreme to produce an entertaining and engaging series of shows that educated the world about all of the creepy crawlies out there. He wasn't stupid or reckless. He was a very intelligent man that knew the creatures he worked with extremely well.
Yes he always ran a high risk of something like this happening. But in providing these shows he introduced animals to thousands upon thousands of people that never would have known. His work will stand the test of time as being a pioneer in the animal world. Take care Steve, thanks for all of your work.
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Sad :(
R.I.P Steve Erwin
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:furious You cannot call him selfish regarding his familly. On the contrary, what he was doing, and the way he did was why he could provide for them.
I don't thing that Dale Enhart Jr., sees his dad as selfish.
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why is it that the people who try to do good are always the ones that get the short end of the stick?? i mean why couldnt osama die doing what he loved? like getting a freaking a plane smashed into his fat arse...
R.I.P. Steve....you will be missed
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I just told my wife and kids about what happened. No matter what anyone says about him he brought alot of knowledge of dangerous animals to us normal everyday folk. As a family we would always watch his show in amazement. On top of everything he was also a devoted family man!!!
<<>>Steve my family and I will miss your shows!!! RIP
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Steve Irwin took unnecessary risks imo, ie picking up venomous snakes by the tail when he could have just as easily used one of those snake sticks with a hooked end, much safer. I always thought he would get eaten by a crocodile though.
That said, I did enjoy his shows. It was one of the few shows my 11 yr old liked that I could stand watching. He also did alot of good by bringing awareness to the masses. He just needed to be more careful.
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Get off the highhorse cav, diving with stingrays off Grand Caymen is hugely differant than what Irwin did. I have done the StingRay city thing, no big deal.
But, Irwin had a wife and kids to consider, and the risks he took were foolish when you consider them into the occasion.
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Mmm, I must say I wouldn't startle a stingray, I've seen first hand someone lanced in the calfe with one.
I go fishing in summer in some shallow waters just outside of an inlet that leads to an tidal estuary. It fills up with rays thats come in and feed on crabs. (and large eels).
Where we fish I often go out to chest deep with a very light handline to catch live baitfish. Often when I do this I encounter rays. Dunno if it the same one but sometimes I big grandaddy ray about 8 foot in span with a black back and scars comes in. He often swims quite close to me and I stay still as. If I move he bolts. What I'm scared off is the 1 in 10 time he might not bolt and reflex will kick in and the barb will come for me. Rays are not agressive but I was taught from a very young age that the barb srike is a reflex action and you don't mess with them - tame or not.
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Just told my 11 yr old that Steve is dead and how. She was silent for a couple minutes then said, thats sad but I figured something bad would happen to him since he always got so close to the animals.
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Dispite everything, I think he will be sadly missed.
a huge giant <SALUTE > for the Late Steve Irwin.
R.I.P:aok
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Why am I not surprised.
You just knew that one day. This guy was going to take one chance too many
Yea but didn't you think he'd be eaten by that big male crock with the attitude problem?
I always thought he'd get killed by a crock or a snake, not something in the water.
:cry
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I just hope Terry and the kids are holding togeather.
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Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter." First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.
He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!'"
Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."
"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."
Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.
Wild animal expert Jack Hanna, who frequently appears on TV with his subjects, offered praise for Irwin.
"Steve was one of these guys, we thought of him as invincible," Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday.
"The guy was incredible. His knowledge was incredible," Hanna said. "Some people that are doing this stuff are actors and that type of thing, but Steve was truly a zoologist, so to speak, a person who knew what he was doing. Yes, he did things a lot of people wouldn't do. I think he knew what he was doing."
Irwin's ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.
Irwin's ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.
His public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.
Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.
Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.
Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.
"It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said.
News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.
At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.
"Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.
"We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.
Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.
The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," she costarred on her husband's television show and in his 2002 movie.
It is a real shame...he died doing what he loved though...was a freak thing that it hit im in the heart though right where it was fatal I watched his show alot too. :(
Rip Steve
Viper
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Sad to see him go. I feel sorry for his family.
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cayman rays may be safe, but dont piss off the scot that runs the grand cayman hyatt golf cart shop
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Originally posted by Debonair
cayman rays may be safe, but dont piss off the scot that runs the grand cayman hyatt golf cart shop
Heck, dont piss off any Scots. I should know, I am one and I dont like being pissed off!
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Well, sad to see him go. I and my family loved his show. But I will say, we all wondered when this would happen, although I expected it to be either a crocodile or a seasnake.
Mr. Crocodile Hunter
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Originally posted by eagl
I think he did a great service to everyone by bringing awareness of wildlife and nature to the masses in an entertaining way that kept everyone's attention long enough to teach them something, but on the other hand ever since I first watched his show I've been wondering when he'd make a fatal mistake. I've seen him get bit by snakes and make near-fatal mistakes with crocs so many times that, just like people here are pointing out, the whole world has been waiting for him to die filming his next show.
Nobody wanted to see it, but frankly I'm amazed he lived as long as he did. He wasn't an idiot like that guy who hung out with bears until they ate him, but he was taking a lot of risks and it was just a matter of time before he got caught by something that would kill him.
I'm sad he's gone and I think the world is worse off without him, but with the risks he was taking and the number of close calls he had every year, it was only a matter of time.
Sort of like with fighter pilots, right? Sitting on top of thousands of pounds of fuel and ordnance. Doing 9-g turns, flying in beyond poor conditions. Other sentient, intelligent human being using the best technology has to try to kill them. Fallible humans in machines that can fail, going twice the sound of speed with fire coming out of their butts.
Or skydivers. Tempting fate by jumping out of planes, effectively doomed to die if they do not pull out a small pilot chute that in turn pulls out a bunch of fabric that hopefully will open.
Or BASE jumpers. Like skydivers on steroids. Or freeclimbers. Hang gliding pilots.
To the outsider, these activities have some things in common. They're incredibly dangerous. People die every year taking part in them. It's mindblowing that someone can subject themselves to such things.
To the insider, it's about training, experience, risk analysis, risk mitigation and yet more training and experience. It's not safe and will never be. It's not suicidal either.
Steve had a good handle on things, vast experience. Still he bought it. I am sure there are big legends in the fighter pilot lore that even though they were the best, mother nature gave them no respite. He was pushing things, as some people do.
I've heard these quotes from a guy nicknamed Tonto which fits aptly to these environments.
"The risk of living your life on the point of the sword is that it is the 1st to be blunted on the armour of reality. The risk of being part of the blade is far, far less, and yet we are still part of the weapon that slays the dragons of boredom that threaten our lives. "
Rob Harris, Dave Wilds, Tom Piras, Roger Nelson……..They were Gods, World Champions, Icons. They had natural talent, incredible skills and were hugely current………And yet the ground offered them no concession for their level of skill or experience.
There are few, now or in the future, that will ever reach their level in this game we play.
Never for a moment become so arrogant as to believe you are the one that has what it takes to avoid their fate.
As a fighter pilot, I am sure yo can acknowledge the truth in these quotes.
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We all took a bigger risk getting in our cars this morning than Steve did swimming with sting rays. On the news they said there have been only three deaths in Australia from sting rays in the last 100 years.
Sure he took risks but they were calculated risks judged by years of professional experience and training. He was always in control of the situation. Getting stung in the heart with a sting ray is a one in a million. You probably couldn’t duplicate it if you tried.
RIP Steve, my family will miss you. Thoughts and prayers go out to Terry, Bindi Sue and Bob.
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I think the beiggest shame is the decades of knowledge and experience lost with him.
he was taught from when he was what 10 years old? by his father how to handle and be around the dangerous creatures in austraila. his knowledge of them also was an encyclopedia of information. all his work on research and learning about those animals is lost forever.
R.I.P. Steve. may God be with your family and friends.