Passive stingrays can be deadly

news.com.au ^ | September 04, 2006 05:04pm | Danny Rose and Jane Williams

[GodfearingTexan]

Stingrays are considered passive creatures, but their venom and their barbed tails can be deadly, experts say.

Even so, fatal attacks such as the one that killed television star and naturalist Steve Irwin are extrenely rare.

Irwin, 44, died today when a spear-like stingray barb pierced his chest while diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and it's believed he may have had a heart attack.

[GodfearingTexan]

this would suck. they probably got it all on tape, too.

[pcottraux]

I almost stepped on one once when I was a kid. I remember at the beach I was wading in the water, and the water was clear and I could see the bottom, and as my foot came down, a few inches in front of me, a stingray was settled on the bottom and it scampered away.

I still get scared thinking about what might have happened.

[Global2010]

We were playing Oceanopoly last week and the factiods on the back of the Property cards are interesting.

On the back of Stingray it was stated that some can be as big as 17ft from wind tip to tip.

We looked at each other and said "man, I would hate to step on his tail" ect....

[NinoFan]

I hate how the media uses heart attack to mean sudden death for reasons related to the heart. They do this whether the COD was rupture, v-fib, PEA, etc. IOW, even if there was no block of oxygen to the heart or no necrosis, they still call this a heart attack. Of course, there is a correct medical term for what a heart attack actually is, but using even the layman's term in such a catch-all way is very uninformative to the reader.

[montag813]

"It is really quite unusual for divers to be stung, unless they are grappling with the animal and knowing Steve Irwin perhaps that may have been the case.

He isn't that stupid. He knows what they can do. I read an account of a 14-year old boy being pierced through his myocardium (fatally) in a totally freak accident.

[cabojoe]

I've been nailed in the heel when I was in my teens. Hurt like heck for around 15 minutes, and then the lifeguard soaked my foot in something. Strangest part is just knowing that something alien stuck itself into my foot and then pulled out. It was probably a small specimen compared to what they have down under.

[montag813]

"It is highly unusual, extremely unusual for people to die from stingray stings."

My wife was just dicussing why freak, bizarre deaths only seem to happen to the good guys. Like Sonny Bono on the slopes, or Steve Irwin. Somehow living instruments of Satan such as Hillary remain safe for life.

[Jeff Chandler]

When entering the water from the beach, shuffle your feet as you go to give the stingrays warning enough to scurry away.

[kingu]

And next on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, straight from the great beyond, the Steve Irwin Show!

Irwin: Shh! We're hunting up a hot little bugger today. Gotta be careful with those horns... *SNATCH!* Ahh, there it be.. The first Tasmanian Devil. You can just feel the heat and the evil just boiling off of the surface of these things - which means you've got to be careful while handling the tail - and WATCH OUT for that pitchfork...

Announcer: Next week on the Steve Irwin Show...

Irwin: *snatch* Oh! Look at the wings on this thing, crikie. Bit squeemish these things are, especially if you disturb their harps.. We'd better let this one go back to it's cloud...

Rest in Peace, Steve, and prayers for the family. He did something few of us will ever do - living life the way he wanted to, sharing it with others, and with a great deal of love.

[GodfearingTexan]

yeah, that's what i was thinkin' too.

[Jezebelle]

So true, so true. I think of the light and life and goodness in Irwin's eyes and then I compare that to the dead, soulless eyes of the corrupt Hillary, and know so well that it's true.

It just happens that way far more than the opposite. The devil never rests.

[demonrum]

I can't find my copy, but I read a fascinating book about Oz a few months ago called In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767903862?v=glance)& it had a grimly hilarious (more grim than hilarious, in the present context) account of how pretty much every spider, snake or long-legged beastie in Australia CAN & WILL KILL YOU.

I have to admit that it was a few hours before I saw something about "Steve Irwin dies" on the 'net before I connected it with "the Crocodile Hunter".

Prayers to his family.

Cliches become cliches for a reason, & I'm going to use one here:

He died doing what he loves. We should all be so lucky.

I hate it when people who profess that they believe in the omniscience & wisdom of God second-guess about the grand plan. When it's time to go, we go. Period.

[Dacus943]

"Somehow living instruments of Satan such as Hillary remain safe for life."

Yeah...! But she still had to have sex with Bill - and vice versa.

[Jezebelle]

I wasn't second-guessing.

[Caipirabob]

A buddy of mine and I went diving a few years back. It was his first time. He was descending after I made it down first. He wasn't watching and was trying to bottom out. He was just about to hit the sea bed when I saw the outline of a sting ray in the sandy bottom. Just below his flippers. Who knows what would have happened (he would have hit it dead on if he continued), but I stopped him quick because it was looking like a very bad situation. He didn't understand first and looked upset that I had knocked him around trying to get to him. I pointed to the sand and after about 10 seconds he saw it. Have you ever seen anyone's eyes get big enough to fill both sides of a dive mask? His was. A good guy, too. Thank God nothing happened and we had a great dive after that, and a lesson he wouldn't forget for many a dive.

So tragically sad to hear about Irwin. An amazing career cut short in his prime.

[pepsionice]

It is truly a sad day....Steve became a icon for most of us to identify with. I don't necessarily think think of this as a career cut short. He was a man of risks....he knew that...and I think he knew his ticket would come up one day. But this is the richness of his character...why give in and live a lesser life? Its better in the end to have lived a rich and eventful life on the shortside...than to live to 90 and talk about all of the things you avoided in life to reach 90 years old. I'd rather go out like Steve.

[dawn53]

We used to live in the Caymans. Stingray City is an attraction there (a sandbar swarming with very docile stingray.) The guides will pick up stingray and wrestle them (so to speak)...holding them very near to their chests.

[bmwcyle]

Lesson, stick to what you know best. Steve just didn't spend enough time in the water.

[chuckles]

I have lived on the Texas Gulf coast all m life. I have gone floundering and fishing in Galveston and know the dangers of Sting Rays. In Fact the name of my High school team was the Texas City Stingaree's. I have never seen a sting ray attack anyone without provocation. Knowing Irwin, he was trying to ride the thing or some other foolishness. If you stepped on one floundering, you might get stung, but they are easy to see and they run if they see you first. If you catch one on a hook, you have to be careful getting the hook out, or they will sting you. FYI, putting your thumb and first fingers in their eye holes and using a pair of pliers is the best way to keep the barb away from you. Right above the eyes is the only place they can't get to.

[Riley]

Well said.

I'm sorry to hear of this- one rarely encounters someone who loves what he does as much as Steve did- and his infectious and boundless enthusiasm came through loud and clear.

Crocodilehunter.com is down at the moment.