Maybe you have seen the video of his death and are aware of the setting in which he was killed, I haven't, but the fact that you consider swimming with a sting ray as low risk is the point that was being made. It's not low risk to be close to wild animals and I think Irwin's death bears that out.
We have been repeatedly exposed to risk takers, on televisions, to such an extent that we no longer realize the danger that wild animals pose to humans.
If Irwin was engaging in a low risk undertaking I wonder why a production crew was filming the event. There was nothing low risk about his television show.
I think it would be appropriate for a final episode of his show to consist of a montage of his encounters with wild animals including the last one.
[Maybe you have seen the video of his death and are aware of the setting in which he was killed, I haven't, but the fact that you consider swimming with a sting ray as low risk is the point that was being made. It's not low risk to be close to wild animals and I think Irwin's death bears that out. We have been repeatedly exposed to risk takers, on televisions, to such an extent that we no longer realize the danger that wild animals pose to humans.]
The video isn't publicly available though I wouldn't be squeamish about seeing it if it were, but the setting IS known, and the official report of his death based on the video and on interviews of those who were there says that he was snorkeling and a startled stingray lashed him with its tail. The point I made before was that people do this all the time and it's NOT considered high risk. Sting rays are normally about as dangerous to be around as bees; sure you could get stung and it's usually not a big deal, but there are rare circumstances where they can kill you. If some people wish to isolate themselves from all of nature in a futile effort to try to eliminate all risk from their lives then they lose out on a whole lot of valuable life experiences. I'm curious what your opinion is of the risk many people take who go camping for the weekend in the woods or who go hiking in rocky canyons or who just like to go swimming in the ocean. Do you think they're being foolish and would be wiser just going to the gym if they want some exercise?
[If Irwin was engaging in a low risk undertaking I wonder why a production crew was filming the event. There was nothing low risk about his television show.]
He was shooting footage for his daughter's new TV show, which is supposed to be about all the "cute" little critters, not the dangerous ones.