Steve Irwin

Just got a call from a Channel 7 News cameraman...Steve Irwin has just lost his life on the GBR.

It looks like he was filming a Sting Ray and somehow it's barb got him in the chest.

Sad news indeed....

Wow. that is very sad.

A stingray barb through the chest? I'm sure most of us who have been in the water a lot have come to think of stingrays as being all but harmless. I wonder what the circumstances were that caused the ray to strike.

Here is an article about his passing:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...534-952,00.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1732439.htm

Steve Irwin dead

The naturalist and television star Steve Irwin has died in a diving accident in far north Queensland. He was 44.

Police say he was stung through the heart by a stingray while diving off Port Douglas.

He was filming a documentary when the accident occurred around midday AEST near the Low Isles.

A helicopter arrived with paramedics on board to try to resuscitate him, but it was too late.

Irwin's body is being taken to the morgue in Cairns.

His family are believed to be flying from Brisbane to Cairns this afternoon.

Irwin, who was was born in Victoria in 1962, inherited his love of reptiles from his father.

His father Bob was a keen reptile enthusiast and moved the family to Queensland in 1970 to open a small reptile park on the Sunshine Coast.

Irwin took over the family business in 1991 and grew it into Australia Zoo.

In 1992 he ventured into television, making the first series of the Crocodile Hunter.

When the program aired in the United States, he shot to international fame.

Irwin is survived by his wife Terri and two children.

Crikey, this is very sad news.

Irwin did a lot of good.

There's also something to be said for going out doing what you love most.

Frogfish

I always thought he was going to catch it getting bit by some deadly reptile or croc. Stingray barb in the heart. He must've been messing with the stingray as he usually does 'physical contact' interaction in his exploits. A good man with great intentions and boundless enthusiasm. I didn't agree with some of the stuff he did but the man was dedicated to his craft and family. RIP.

Sad news indeed, I watched many of his shows and was shocked by the news... But this is not totally unexpected given how close he used to get to the animals. This reminds me of the other naturalist that died in similar circumstances (filming grizzly bears), Timothy Treadwell. I guess there is a lesson there, you better keep your distance!

wow, tis a bit of a shock thats for sure.. his enthusiasm will def be missed.

I am always leary of getting too close to stingrays for some reason, much more so than sharks or any of the teethy critters....

guess this shows why..

Sad news, he became a symbol by he's excitement to the 'dangers' creatures.

I just got an email from someone close to the crew. It was apparently a bull ray (Myliobatis australis) that killed him. Those guys are big. Much more lethal than a sting ray.

No matter what type of ray, like FFish said, he went doing what he loved best-being with nature. A true loss of a great conservationist! Wat a beauty, mate! RIP Steve-o!

An MSN article says that his producer said Steve got too close and on top of the ray and it pierced him right below the rib cage, and into his heart. Like Scubastu said, he likes "riding the tigers tail" and the odds of a mishap (and as rare as this) go up. I loved watching his work, and I real feel bad for his young kids.

Very, very sad news,

I haven't seen all his progs but what I did see showed he had a special passion, care and love for his subjects. He was an amazing character who made me laugh and sit up and take notice.

My thoughts goes out to his family and friends who must be heart broken..

Dive safe

Dean (and I mean SAFE) B

But this is not totally unexpected given how close he used to get to the animals. (snip) I guess there is a lesson there, you better keep your distance!

I always felt he was exceedingly tactile in his interaction with animals. Grab the snake by the tail, slap the croc on the snout, etc. It never really jived with my notion of species/habitat preservation. And while I believe his idea of conservation would likely have been offended by the vision of multitudes of people treating animals the same way he did, I suspect the showman in him just wouldn't give completely in to the conservationist he was in most other ways.

I tend to feel the same way as Manaul. I always felt watching him that the caveat that applied was 'Do not try this at home'.

Truely sad, hopefully you will see this as light-hearted and not in bad taste, it made me chuckle and I thought Steve would too

Nice one..

I bet he would laugh..

Lots of tributes coming on the box..

A Good ambassador for wildlife, lost..

Dive safe

DeanB

Apparently there've been at least 9 other deaths by ray barbs, 2 of which were also through the heart. That's just freaky.

My condolences go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Steve Irwin in these tragic times. A truly larger-than-life character who inspired kids around the planet to get their heads out of computer games and into the real world, he left his mark on nature TV programing through his unbridled enthusiasm for the world around him. His legacy won't just be the increased environmental awareness he created directly, but in the influence his larrikin style has had, and will continue to have, on the way wildlife is brought into our homes.

darren

Truly a sad day and a loss to the entire world. I'm sitting here this morning lost in the irony of it all. Here's a guy who tackled every man-eating predator on Earth, who was taken out by one of the ocean's most passive creatures. The headline I fully expected to see was that he was eaten by a croc or bitten by a venomous snake.

I thought so too. Then it dawned on me that on land he was agile and quick (sometimes not quick enough) but in water, the agility goes way down.

Now that the video of his marine encounter has been examined, it's out that he was just about a metre above the bull ray, which struck defensively. The crazy thing was he pulled out the barb before he died.