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Steve Irwin Dead!

Just horrible. But my heart goes out to those two little ones and his wife. At least they've managed to finally contact her.
 
RIP to a great personality that will be sorely missed, my commiseration's go out to his family.

He was a real spectacle to watch, I used to really enjoy watching Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet Steve was always hilarious made me crack up,

ShadoW
 
I suppose it was going to happen eventually, but still a great loss. Whether or not you liked his television style, Irwin's conservation work really made a difference.

Although I'm shocked it was a stingray. Those creatures are incredibly placid normally. Even if he was touching it, it's virtually unheard of for a stingray to attack. Incredibly bad luck.

Poor guy, and such a tragedy for his family too.
 
dynamicv said:
I suppose it was going to happen eventually, but still a great loss. Whether or not you liked his television style, Irwin's conservation work really made a difference.

Although I'm shocked it was a stingray. Those creatures are incredibly placid normally. Even if he was touching it, it's virtually unheard of for a stingray to attack. Incredibly bad luck.

Poor guy, and such a tragedy for his family too.
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He was stung right in the heart, or at leasts thats what I heard. :(
 
I used to get sick of seeing his shows on tv and he really annoyed me, my sister used to wish he would get eaten by a croc, now he has died im really sad, I have been to "australia zoo" twice and I saw him once. This is so sad because of all the great enviromental work he has done.
 
BBC report

'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin killed


The naturalist worked to protect Australian wildlife

Irwin with crocodiles
Australian environmentalist and television personality Steve Irwin has died during a diving accident.
Mr Irwin, 44, was killed by a stingray barb to the chest while he was filming an underwater documentary in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.

Paramedics from the nearby city of Cairns rushed to treat him at the scene but were unable to save him.

Mr Irwin was known for his television show The Crocodile Hunter and his work with native Australian wildlife.

Police in Queensland confirmed the naturalist's death and said his family had been notified. Mr Irwin was married with two young children.

"It is believed that Mr Irwin collapsed after being stung by a stingray at Batt Reef off Port Douglas at about 1100 (0100 GMT)," a police statement quoted by AFP news agency said.

"His crew called for medical treatment and the Queensland medical helicopter responded. However Mr Irwin had died."

The stingray is a flat, triangular-shaped fish, commonly found in tropical waters.


Mr Irwin's documentaries were shown around the world
It gets its name from the razor-sharp barb at the end of its tail, coated in toxic venom, which the animal uses to defend itself with when it feels threatened.

Although deadly, such attacks on humans are a rarity. David Penberthy, editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, told the BBC he had never heard of anyone in Australia being killed by a stingray before.

"You know we still at this early stage don't know what type of stingray it was, or, you know I guess given the bloke's track record, whether he was getting up close and personal with it as well," Mr Penberty said.

"Or whether it was just a total freak accident and in the course of making this nature documentary he just ended up being attacked."

Documentaries

Mr Irwin had built up what was a small reptile park in Queensland into what is now Australia Zoo, a major centre for Australian wildlife.

He was famous for handling dangerous creatures such as crocodiles, snakes and spiders, and his documentaries on his work with crocodiles drew a worldwide audience.

But he also courted controversy with a series of stunts.

He sparked outrage across Australia after cradling his one-month-old son a metre away from the reptile during a show at Australia Zoo.

A probe was also launched to investigate whether Mr Irwin and his team interacted too closely with penguins and whales while filming in the Antarctic, but no action was taken.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer praised Mr Irwin for his work to promote Australia.

"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," Mr Downer's spokesman said.
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Oh dear :(

I watched one of his shows just the other day. I really liked him, such an inspiration to people. Very sad indeed.

My thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP Crocodile Hunter.
 
Thank You Steve!

Steve will live on through his wonderful documentaries for generations.... It is a terrible loss for all nature enthusiasts. Thank you Steve for all you have done to bring us closer to the world you loved

These things make me worry about all those wonderful naturalists I have met, like Michael R. who dives with great whites (no cage) for a living in S.A. to bring us those wonderful images we all love on TV :eek:
 
ScubaDuc said:
These things make me worry about all those wonderful naturalists I have met, like Michael R. who dives with great whites (no cage) for a living in S.A. to bring us those wonderful images we all love on TV :eek:
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I'm surprised you haven't done that yourself considering your sig. The Great Whites are often out off the Natal coast and you can get really close to them at Protea.
 
This is indeed terrible news, especially for his family, they are reporting on the news and tv over here so almost certainly true.

On a more salient point i have been expecting this for a long time, you cant play with fire for this long and not get burnt.
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This was quite a bit more then a simple burn.

I admired him greatly. I was shocked and saddened to hear this news. :( RIP Steve

steveirwin.jpg
 
dynamicv said:
I'm surprised you haven't done that yourself considering your sig. The Great Whites are often out off the Natal coast and you can get really close to them at Protea.
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I did, but in a cage...I couldn't talk Michael to let me go in with him in Gansbay... :rolleyes:

I was not so lucky in Protea and Aliwal Shoal.... Lots or raggies, a few bull sharks but no tiger or great whites.;.. bummer! This november I am off to french polynesia for the big hammerheads.. I hope I'll get..lucky! ;)

Again, my thoughts go to all those great guys I have met that have shared with me their world.
 
Horrible, absolutely horrible way to die. It just makes me so sad that he died in such a painful manner. Like a knife stabbing through his heart, you don't die immediately with that :( He will be missed forever, I always thought he was so genuinely interested in what he was doing.. like that was his only thing in life. I love music, but at times I get bored (even though it is a passion) composing or whatever.. Steve just looked like the kind of person who had boundless energy and passion for the animal kingdom.

This is just, very tragic. Seeing his family pic on cnn.com is even worse, I can't imagine the pain his family must be going through.
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Sad. Not really surprising, but still very, very sad. :(
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That's the thing isn't it.

Whilst I understand that he apparently did a lot for conservation in Australia, I personally disliked his somewhat taunting behaviour (sometime bordering on disregard) towards many of the animals, and such is the unpredictability of nature, that eventually he'd push his luck too far.

Still, it's very sad... he was obviously a man of great passion, and love in what he did. To quote Bodhi... "it's not tragic to die doing what you love".
 
iGav said:
That's the thing isn't it.

Whilst I understand that he apparently did a lot for conservation in Australia, I personally disliked he's somewhat taunting behaviour (sometime bordering on disregard) towards many of the animals, and such is the unpredictability of nature, that eventually he'd push his luck too far.

Still, it's very sad... he was obviously a man of great passion, and love in what he did. To quote Bodhi... "it's not tragic to die doing what you love".
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It looked like taunting.. but there's no other way to hold a crocodile and display some of its features.. you might as well shoot one with a tranquilizer dart and display it on tv. Same with the venomous snakes, it also was quite clear that he never tortured the animals.

He wasn't taunting this stingray either, just swimming on top of it with the cameraman.. and it just shot its tail at him. A freak accident, and a terribly unfortunate one at that. I am sure he must be quite aware of the dangers of being close to a stingray, apart from the fact that its hard to dodge an animal while swimming.. most likely he probably didn't even notice it lying on the sea bed.
 
Music_Producer said:
It looked like taunting.
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It was taunting.

I'm sorry, but I'm a firm believer in leaving the animals alone, or at least if people do insist on filming them, at least try to be a little less invasive when doing it.
 
It was worse than taunting. Steve Irwin was a menace and should not be held in any high regard. Anyone justifying his cruelty to animals needs their head read.
 
Poor guy :( What he did wasn't to my personal tastes, but he did raise the profiles of a lot of animals and show us them in ways we'd never seen before. I think that deep down he was a good guy and it's a tragic loss for his family, for Australia and for viewers of his programmes around the world.
 
I can echo this . . . . .

iGav said:
That's the thing isn't it.

Whilst I understand that he apparently did a lot for conservation in Australia, I personally disliked he's somewhat taunting behaviour (sometime bordering on disregard) towards many of the animals, and such is the unpredictability of nature, that eventually he'd push his luck too far.

Still, it's very sad... he was obviously a man of great passion, and love in what he did. To quote Bodhi... "it's not tragic to die doing what you love".
Click to expand...

I am (was ?) a HUGE fan of this guy, 100% entertaining, though I have said to myself many times . . . . . one of these days . . . . . . well that day HAS come, and it was not a shock (as it was BOUND to happen one day), but very very sad, and as someone who has swum with Stingrays before, really unfortunate as this is sooooooooo very rare. RIP Steve, you will be missed, and I do not mean the TV audience either, your family and the animals you tirelessly strove to protect will miss you even more. :(
 
Well all of the news and current affairs shows were awash with this story tonight. I was never really a big fan of his TV shows, but he really did do a lot for conservation and the environment. Regardless of what you may think about his methods, the fact is, he raised the profile of environmetal issues here in Australia and across the globe.

More importantly, it was clearly evident that his family meant everthing to him. One of the last interviews he ever gave was screened earlier and his love for his wife and children obvioius. Again, it's really just a tragedy.
 
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