RIP Steve Irwin

[UnhingedMouse0]

Shortly after 11:00am local time on 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while diving in Queensland's Batt Reef, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef. The events were caught on camera and the footage is now in the possession of Queensland Police. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi was hosting, when, according to his friend and colleague John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the animals. "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.

 

After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and fisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead..." In such a case, the stingray responds by automatically flexing the serrated barb on its tail, which is up to 25 centimeters (roughly 10 inches) in length.

 

"He came over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand, and the barb came up and hit him in the chest," Stainton said. Wildlife documentary maker Ben Cropp, citing a colleague who saw footage of the attack, told Time.com that Irwin had accidentally boxed the animal in. "It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest," said Ben Cropp. "It's a defensive thing. It's like being stabbed with a dirty dagger." The Bull Ray that stung Irwin was "a one-in-a-million thing," Cropp told Time magazine. "I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me."In this case, the motion struck Irwin's chest and pierced his heart. This was only the third known fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack, and only 17 worldwide fatalities have taken place since 1996.

 

Crewmembers aboard his boat called emergency services in the nearest city of 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.

 

The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning his death. News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Several Australian news websites went down because of high web traffic and talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief, commemorating his passion and exuberance. Prime Minister John Howard, among many other politicians, expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son." Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns, where stunned family and friends were gathering on Monday night. His wife Terri was informed of her husband's death while on a walking tour in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania, and returned via private plane from Devonport to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death

 

R.I.P. Mr. Crock-Hunter Dude.

 

Wildlife warrior Steve Irwin was a daredevil who loved flirting with danger around deadly animals.

 

But after years of close shaves it was a normally harmless stingray which finally claimed his life on Monday, plunging a barb into the Crocodile Hunter's chest as he snorkelled in shallow water on the Great Barrier Reef.

 

The irony of it all...

[Phranka]

times like these make me glad my dad works in an office >_<

Gah he didn't deserve it.. I'll miss his awesome accent.

 

discovery and animal planet will be empty without him :0

[Brkng_Th_Hbt]

times like these make me glad my dad works in an office >_<

Gah he didn't deserve it.. I'll miss his awesome accent.

 

discovery and animal planet will be empty without him :0

He did have to coolest accent ever.

[Clogz]

"Our whole passion to be on this planet is to educate people about wildlife," he said in 1998. "I will die doing that. I have a gift." - Steve Irwin

 

I think that says everything.

[azemkamikaze03]

Hey he died doin what he loves, thats how i wanna go out

somewhere on stage jammin to the largest crowd in history every one just vibin and then just fallin down and dieing....

[LPHybridSnax]

i was actually really sad when I saw it, like i could feel the disbelief feeling in my heart (if you know what I mean, not explained well) because I've been watching this guy on TV since before I was 5 years old, and out of nowhere he's dead.

[Greyfoxx]

now i feel like i'm gonna cry, he didn't deserve to die....he was an awesome man who knew animals like nobody else alive....

 

that wrecked my day....

 

the world will miss Steve.

[waiting4thesun]

i usually don't get very emotional when people die, but this really is a tragedy... he was an important man, and also a very kind and loving man. i saw a documentary-type show a while back with him and his wife and kids in it, and just seeing how he involved he was with his kids, it was awesome. i feel really sad for his family, and anyone that knew him.

 

R.I.P. Steve

[LP186]

i thought sting rays were friendly

Steve is only the third person in history to be reportedly killed by a stingray

and Steve will be the first person to tell you that animals act out defensively, not aggressively

so i think he got a bit too close

[Vash_the_Stampede]

Steve is only the third person in history to be reportedly killed by a stingray

and Steve will be the first person to tell you that animals act out defensively, not aggressively

so i think he got a bit too close

 

Isn't it like, 3rd in Aus. and only 17th in the world?

I remember reading something that said those numbers, but I dunno...

[azemkamikaze03]

Either way I think we can all agree it hardly ever happens.

 

But I mean I think we all could have anticipated him dieing "on the job". It was just a matter of when and how.

 

I always figured he'd be killed by a snake.

[LP186]

good point Josh

im not too sure....

but i know being killed by a stingray is very very very rear

[FireHawk]

yeah i figured a snake or croc woulda got'em

[azemkamikaze03]

good point Josh

im not too sure....

but i know being killed by a stingray is very very very rear

Rare?

 

 

It is kinda weird how every is upset that he is dead despite the fact that they werent close to him. Im sure he was a nice guy and the loss of any soul is usually horrible. But I mean when I hear things like 'Man, I'm crying' kinda makes you ponder a bit.

 

Anyways salutations man. You lived a good life.

[LP186]

Rare?

whatever!!

you know what i mean

[Greyfoxx]

Rare?

 

 

It is kinda weird how every is upset that he is dead despite the fact that they werent close to him. Im sure he was a nice guy and the loss of any soul is usually horrible. But I mean when I hear things like 'Man, I'm crying' kinda makes you ponder a bit.

 

Anyways salutations man. You lived a good life.

people cry for odd reasons. like why people cry for famous people who die but they didn't know them? He was a kind man, and he cared for the animals. Its sad that he died.

[LPHybridSnax]

It is kinda weird how every is upset that he is dead despite the fact that they werent close to him. Im sure he was a nice guy and the loss of any soul is usually horrible. But I mean when I hear things like 'Man' date=' I'm crying' kinda makes you ponder a bit.[/quote']

 

It's like the loss of Mr. Rogers, but worse because he died of natural causes, Steve was taken untimely, I don't think people ever expected him to die, they thought they thought he would, but nobody could really see it happening, sorry if thats a little confusing.

[Greyfoxx]

It's like the loss of Mr. Rogers' date=' but worse because he died of natural causes, Steve was taken untimely, I don't think people ever expected him to die, they [i']thought[/i] they thought he would, but nobody could really see it happening, sorry if thats a little confusing.

for some reason, that makes perfect sense to me!

 

well said

[Vash_the_Stampede]

Oh man, when Mr. Rogers died, I was sad.. I didn't cry, but sad Josh was saaaaaaaaadddd

[Greyfoxx]

josh was saddddddd?

me too

 

 

Steve shouldn't have gone down this way, he was soooo amazing. i wish that he couldve died like of old age or something....

[Hahninator]

jesus

 

mr. rogers dying = hell

 

remember the stingray shuffle lol

[Vash_the_Stampede]

Yeah... Both Mr. Rogers & James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek)

[woodyloveslinkin]

Like the news said:

 

People knew Australia for Steve Irwin and didn't even know who the PM was.

 

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/images/steve_irwin150.jpg

 

May he rest in peace

[session0677]

i was..in shock..i have never watched his shows before but still it is very sad

[djwakka]

Crikey! This is proof positive that people don't appreciate others until it's too late.