Steve Irwin killed by stingray

[Fragony]

and he died in the pursuit of knowledge.

Crikey.....they are indeed......toxic

[Silver Rusher]

That's too bad.

[Slyspy]

RIP Steve Irwin.

Crikey, here at the Org even a RIP thread can be turned into a petty, pointless, bickering argument. Way to go boys!

[Beirut]

If anyone here is trying to invoke life without risk as either validation of one's efforts or of one's life itself, I pray to God they are fighting a losing battle.

I'm sure Steve would have agreed even though it cost him his life.

[Fragony]

RIP Steve Irwin.

Crikey, here at the Org even a RIP thread can be turned into a petty, pointless, bickering argument. Way to go boys!

What makes you think this is a RIP thread, it's about Steve Irwin being killed by a stingray.

[Dutch_guy]

When I first saw him on tv I said that an animal was going to get him.

Yeah that's true, but I always thought it would be some kind of venomous snake or a crocodile.

Rest in peace Steve...

[Devastatin Dave]

What makes you think this is a RIP thread, it's about Steve Irwin being killed by a stingray.

Very true. This is not an RIP thread. I for one wish him and his family the best but there is no reason for us not to discuss this. I believe that the discussion of Steve's death, even though it may be in somewhat bad taste, will help Steve's cause and the pursuit of many conservationists.

Stingrays are very peaceful animals, but can be startled. We'll have to wait and see if he was poking at it or unfortunatle surprised both the ray and himself, possibly swiming over it and getting barbed.

[Slyspy]

Sorry, I was taking my cue from the tone of the first post of the thread. Besides which, this is hardly disproving my point!

[Ronin]

Yeah that's true, but I always thought it would be some kind of venomous snake or a crocodile.

.....it´s allways the quiet ones that get you.....

[Vladimir]

Well, I like the irony of a low risk creature being the death of him. With all the high risk jobs he's done maybe he got careless. I don't think anyone should be too sad though; I couldn't see him slipping quitely into retirement. I know his family will be taken care of so there's no worries there.

Actually, I'm more interested in how he got stung in the chest. I think he knew the lethality of a stingray and would have not let himself be stung in the one place where it could kill him.

[Ianofsmeg16]

R.I.P Steve Irwin, you're an inspiration...

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

This is a real shame. I always enjoyed Steve's shows, and he did a lot for conservation, as well as interesting people in wildlife.

R.I.P. Steve.

[Fragony]

update, not yet confirmed but supposedly he wanted to hike a bit on that stingray's back. Not smart because what doesn't float ain't a boat. If this is true the Darwin Commision should confiscate his offspring.

[Joeokar]

What i am hearing on the news as of right now he was swiming above it when it stabbed him in the heart

[professorspatula]

The poor sod! Like what he did or not, in some ways he made wildlife more accessible to those who otherwise aren't interested or don't care. You have some crazy aussie chasing after crocodiles and poking highly venomous snakes with sticks for the camera, whilst delivering really enthusiastic commentry right in your face. It made for strangely entertaining viewing. Most wildlife programs seemed to be old-fashioned or full of CGI and clever editing, but here we had one man (and his brave camera crew) going right up into the faces of all kinds of animals and strange species. You couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't lost an arm, or been killed, but now he has.

What a shame. He had years of crazy nature antics to come.

I'm sure they'll be someone waiting in the wings to carry on his tradition. I remember seeing a few years back some British wildlife presenter chasing after snakes a bit like Irwin, although I couldn't help but think, 'You're no Irwin chap!'.

[Gregoshi]

Rest in peace Steve. His enthusiasm and dedication to his work was admirable.

BTW, I don't believe Steve qualifies for a Darwin Award. His death was a rare and freak accident. Even had he been provoking the sting ray, I doubt anyone with knowledge of sting rays would have considered death a likely outcome. With Darwin Awards, death is pretty much the expected result from their actions. And while his work was risky by our standards, I'm sure we take greater risks by getting in our car than he ever did with wild life.

[Productivity]

I doubt anyone with knowledge of sting rays would have considered death a likely outcome. With Darwin Awards, death is pretty much the expected result from their actions. And while his work was risky by our standards, I'm sure we take greater risks by getting in our car than he ever did with wild life.

I dive around them frequently enough and have done a lot of amateur reading on them and I'd say swimming above one is very close to a deathwish. If you startle it reflex will kick in and the sting will whip upwards which is going to catch you in the torso. The big ones the actual sting itself can be 15cm-20cm long, that will go straight through you with little trouble.

I'd also suggest that the only way to get yourself killed by one is to swim above it. The sting whips upwards reflexively, they are shy creatures that will run (well sort of fly) off rather than attack.

[Banquo's Ghost]

I dive around them frequently enough and have done a lot of amateur reading on them and I'd say swimming above one is very close to a deathwish. If you startle it reflex will kick in and the sting will whip upwards which is going to catch you in the torso. The big ones the actual sting itself can be 15cm-20cm long, that will go straight through you with little trouble.

I'd also suggest that the only way to get yourself killed by one is to swim above it. The sting whips upwards reflexively, they are shy creatures that will run (well sort of fly) off rather than attack.

Indeed.

It looks as if the ray was spooked by having a cameraman filming in front of it when Irwin came into view. It had nowhere to run, so struck out. Stingrays in Australia are predated by sharks, and it probably thought he was one of these.

A very tragic accident, perhaps avoidable, but when you work with wildlife it is quite difficult to cover every eventuality.

I can't say I cared for his style of presentation, but there's no doubt of his sincerity or love for conservation, and I wish him peace and his family sympathy.

[InsaneApache]

[Dâriûsh]

That's really sad. He seemed like a good person.

[Fragony]

That's really sad. He seemed like a good person.

Ya it kinda stings

god what is wrong with me today

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

I tend to agree, stingrays are not the most agressive of creatures. Infact they are normally pretty shy. I just wonder what he did to provoke a reaction from one.

The guy did a lot of good and condolences to his family, but poke wildlife too much and it will bite back.

They say his camera man or someone accompining steve on the trip aggravated the stingray into a defensive stance. When irwin was with it BAM

Still i lkied steve irwin

RIP

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Very sad, not least because he was a cool guy with a real passion for animals.

Still, I suppose his luck had to run out sooner or later.

[Scurvy]

very sad

his enthusiam and care for animals was heart warmingg, although in honesty after seeing some of his programmes it was always going to happen

[Andres]

Very sad for his family.

On the other hand, if you live by the sword, you risk dying by the sword...

Hmm, maybe we should bomb those damn stingrays! That'll teach 'em! I guess that particular stingray was made in China! By Mexican immigrants with Japanese roots. Bah.

[doc_bean]

Very sad for his family.

On the other hand, if you live by the sword, you risk dying by the sword...

Hmm, maybe we should bomb those damn stingrays! That'll teach 'em! I guess that particular stingray was made in China! By Mexican immigrants with Japanese roots. Bah.

...owkay, someone hasn't quite recovered from the weekend yet

[GodWillsIt]

I think its very sad...in America all the news stations are showing the clip where he is feeding a croc while holding his son. The guy just lost his life and his family a father and husband. Why would the American media try to make this guy look like an idiot on the same day he died?

[Marshal Murat]

The world got a little colder, but was canceled out by the global warming increase of .0000000000005 degrees every first Tuesday of the month.

[Xiahou]

BTW, I don't believe Steve qualifies for a Darwin Award. His death was a rare and freak accident. Even had he been provoking the sting ray, I doubt anyone with knowledge of sting rays would have considered death a likely outcome. With Darwin Awards, death is pretty much the expected result from their actions. And while his work was risky by our standards, I'm sure we take greater risks by getting in our car than he ever did with wild life.

Exactly, stingray stings are rare to begin with- but even then they're painful, but rarely fatal. From what I've read/seen, he must've had some allergic reaction to the sting that caused such a quick death. Had he died after putting his head in a croc's mouth they might have a case- but this was truly a freak accident.

Regardless, he doesnt qualify since he had children- end of story.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Darwin awards are a sicko idea anyway.

RIP Steve