Posted on 09/03/2006 9:29:57 PM PDT by lunarbicep
Edited on 09/04/2006 5:53:46 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I agree. It's the saddest news I've heard for a long time too. He was so young and such a freak thing too. He had such a zest for life and he really loved what he did. Makes me want to cry.
A lot of us are upset. My alarm went off early this holiday morning and it's set to the radio; I heard the news and even though I wanted to sleep, I couldn't, I was just so shaken up.
That was interesting, Doug. I didn't know he wouldn't handle the water mocassin. I loved his ongoing commentary as he did his thing.
Just terrible news, I always enjoyed watching his shows.
Prayers for his entire family his wife Terri, and two children Bindi and Robert.
Who would have thought a stingray could kill you like that. It must have pierced his heart.
It didn't need to go in very far... Remember, stingrays have a venomous barb. I'm not sure what sort of toxin they have, but an injury like that, while submerged, it would probably been impossible to save him.
Mark
Marlon Perkins pre-dates those, LOL. Mutual of Omaha was the sponsor of "Wild Kingdom" in the late 50's and 60's. He had zero personality, and was just the narrator dressed up in a safari suit and seldom messed with the critters himself.
Irwin was the absolute best, so sorry this happened to him. Even at my age, I've found it hard to not linger awhile or for the whole show when I came across him while channel-surfing.
So sad. Condolences to his family.
Media statement – 4 September 2006
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series.
Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.
His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,
“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!”
I missed it. We got up about 4:30 and then went back to bed. Is that clip on the internat?
The articles I've been reading describe the tail as being very muscular. A large stingray apparently can whip the tail up over its head as fast as lightning and strike with enough force to drive a barb completely through the wooden planks of a boat, a booted foot or, as may have happened here, the chest cavity and into or near the heart.
The articles describe such events as being rare inasmuch as stingrays usually choose to skitter away when startled or threatened rather than attack. But when they do choose to attack, the results can be instantly and wholly devastating.
Conchs are venomous? I had no idea! There was a restaurant here in KC that used to serve the best Cuban Sandwich and Conch Fritters!
Unfortunatly, they changed the menu... Could you be talking about a Cone Shell? I know that they're terribly venomous.
Mark
He wasn't crazy. He was doing something he loved. How many of us can truly say that?
So very sad....I loved his show. RIP Steve.
I agree with you in one respect, but on the other hand, I believe that Steve Irwin was actually doing something very important for real conservationists.
One of the things that he did was help show that these deadly creatures were an important part of the natural system, and there was nothing mean or evil about them. They just did what they did. He helped show that they're animals to be respected and to stay away from them, but not to be feared and hunted down and killed, simply for being what they are.
Certainly, we can't have predators running around residential areas, but I think that his antics did help to reduce a lot of the mindless fear that many had about dangerous creatures.
Mark
How sad. Prayers for the family. I enjoyed watching him - he appeared like such a great person, full of good will and a sense of humor. He will be missed.
You're oprating from a premise I don't believe you can prove. You're implying that the *only* reason he did what he did was for entertainment. Steve Irwin was trapping crocs and working with wildlife even before he became internationally known.
If Mama Cass had given her ham sandwich to Karen Carpenter, they both would be alive today.
Stingrays are mostly shy and doscile creatures, however when threatened they will defend themselves with the spine.
When I was taking diving lessons, the instructor mentioned that if you're in waters where stingrays lurk, if you're entering from a beach, or walking on a sandy bottom, you NEVER walk. You shuffle your feel slowly. This will USUALLY get a burried stingray to move off. And you never swim close (an arms length) to the bottom. You can be on top of a burried stingray that has no way to move out. That could very well be how Steve got stuck in the chest.
Mark
He named one of his children after his favorite croc, the other after his dog!
Mark
He was, but it was always fun to hear, "While I sit in the boat, Jim will be wrestling that 97 foot anaconda..."
Mark
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