Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dead

News.com.au ^ | September 4, 2006

[lunarbicep]

He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.

He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.

[ashtanga]

Steve was a testosterone fueled paleo-man, and God we need a few more. I always thought he'd meet his end by poking his hand into dark caverns, as he was wont to do now and again.

[bd476]

Thank you. It's very sad news.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

"I thought he was crazy. I'm surprised it took this long".

---

Obviously, there are things you cannot understand.

[A CA Guy]

News is a major business and no way the networks would sit on this over the little issue of his wife not being informed.

[Optimist]

[HairOfTheDog]

...If you sell a show to an audience about someone who is supposed to be a danger magnet, it can't be too surprising if, from time to time, someone gets hurt or killed. It's part of the business. It's somewhat dishonest for people to now pretend some great tragedy is involved...

That's some lecture.... It's not a good party unless there's one guy in the kitchen arguing some inane point that is obvious to everyone else but he thinks is really profound :~)

[Daaave]

I used to have one of these about 10" long. It was always very sharp. A co-worker from Trinidad, explained to me how when you step on a stingray they stick you with their barb. Naturally, from then on I was always afraid I'd step on a stringray.

[Al Simmons]

"I thought he was crazy. I'm surprised it took this long. It's sad for his family. They probably thought he was invincible."

After so many years (at least judging by his TV shows), I think that he started believing that he was invincible. He was always pushing the envelope and taking needless risks, whether with Crocodiles, or deadly snakes. My guess is that he probably got too close to this animal and spooked it. And it was probably a big one.

May God rest his soul and comfort his wife and their little children.

[Optimist]

[SWAMPSNIPER]

"Have you ever watched this guy in action"?

---

I've had some of that action, myself, my time just hasn't come, yet! I wish I could start over, and do it all again.

[Ptarmigan]

Sorry to hear that. Getting stung by a stingray is horribly painful.

[Pyro7480]

That's why you do the "stingray shuffle" in waters where they live.

[SeaBiscuit]

Really crummy news.. A good soul.. God keep him in peace and give comfort to his family.

[George W. Bush]

It's not a good party unless there's one guy in the kitchen arguing some inane point that is obvious to everyone else but he thinks is really profound :~)

Just call me Dr. Obvious.

Still, this is one of those things where everyone pretends to be so shocked that someone who put themselves in danger for their entertainment and then, oh unfair surprise, they actually get killed. Then everyone pretends it was all so unexpected.

It's all a little too cozy an arrangement.

Marlon: "And now, as Jim circles down behind the trees on the lower savannah to approach the lion pride...

[bd476]

A CA Guy wrote: "News is a major business and no way the networks would sit on this over the little issue of his wife not being informed."

That is true and unfortunately, you're probably right. Many in the media believe they have proprietary rights to the personal life events of the famous. What a terrible price to pay for success.

[isthisnickcool]

After someone's dead, then people want to pretend it was all somehow unfair that someone got killed. I suppose it helps absolve them of their involvement in the performer's demise.

??????

There is no information about what had happened. He could have just been swimming along the bottom and stirred the thing up and got wacked by the barb through the heart. Just a freak accident.

How sad. In a way Irwin was our contemporary Costeau.

[CurlyBill]

After so many years (at least judging by his TV shows), I think that he started believing that he was invincible.

I wouldn't necessarily agree. He knew the risks. I recall an episode where he was on a hill overlooking a herd of hippos. He was pretty far away and said that was as close as he was going to get because the hippos were extremely dangerous. He didn't take any chances with them... and this was several years after he was on the air. This was probably as reported... a freak accident.

[El Gran Salseron]

Female stingrays harass divers who get too close to their young.

[woofie]

RIP

[Fred Nerks]

We'll all miss you, Steve.