Crocodile Hunter dead at 44 - Stung by Stingray

[Broomstick]

I feel sorry for his family, but frankly he was a fuckwit and I'm not sorry to see him go. The bullshit with his kid and the raw chicken just cinched it for me that he was a fucktard.

so a foolish mistake should forever label a man who dedicated his life to conservation and science education for children a fuckwit?

I'm with Wong on this one - it's one thing to risk your own self, quite another to risk someone else. ESPECIALLY someone way too young to comprehend the risks or give consent.

Does that one incident negate all the good the man ever did? No - but it DOES make me question his judgement. And that's a serious, serious question in my book.

I play games where the outcome for stupidity - or even brief distraction - can result in charred bodyparts strewn across the landscape. I have friends who play those games even harder than I do. I have helped clean up from accidents. The ethics of taking risks when life and limb are at stake have been thoroughly hashed out - you DON'T involve people who don't know what the hell is going on and are unable to make an informed decision about their choice of risks. A month old baby qualifies for "don't know what the hell is going on" on multiple levels.

I prefer to give people I don't know the benefit of the doubt, but it's fucking hard to do so under the circumstances of that one particular incident. Granted, he never repeated it, but it should never have occured in the first place. Worse yet, in my mind, were his statements after the fact that he was "in total control". Um... no, he wasn't. You can't be when there's an animal involved. Dropping your guard like that, or assuming that sort of arrogance, is a step towards disaster.

Oh, damn - don't mean to speak badly of the dead. He did do some good in his life, but he, like everyone else, was a mix of good and bad traits. It would be dishonest to pretend otherwise, or simply forget about a mistake that could have had horrific consequences.

[Joe]

Ironic that he spent his career antagonizing very dangerous animals...but it was a relatively benign one he didn't even mean to piss off that did him in. He will be missed.

[Qwerty 42]

it seems from all accounts that he didn't suffer, and doubtless the last thing going through his mind was the wildlife he was working with. According to the thread he apologized for the incident with the child, so as far as I'm concerned he will be missed.

[SAMAS]

I feel sorry for his family, but frankly he was a fuckwit and I'm not sorry to see him go. The bullshit with his kid and the raw chicken just cinched it for me that he was a fucktard.

so a foolish mistake should forever label a man who dedicated his life to conservation and science education for children a fuckwit?

What if his kid had died, or been mauled and horribly disfigured for life? Would you still say that? Oops, it was just one mistake? That's the risk he chose to take.

Honestly? Yeah. We're talking about a guy who's been around those things since he was that age. He knew, often from personal experience, more about a crocodile's reach, reaction speed, and behaviour patterns than just about anybody else.

[Qwerty 42]

it seems from all accounts that he didn't suffer, and doubtless the last thing going through his mind was the wildlife he was working with. According to the thread he apologized for the incident with the child, so as far as I'm concerned he will be missed.

Err, I'm going to rescind the apologized part, looking into it. Still, he seemed decent enough.

[Broomstick]

so a foolish mistake should forever label a man who dedicated his life to conservation and science education for children a fuckwit?

What if his kid had died, or been mauled and horribly disfigured for life? Would you still say that? Oops, it was just one mistake? That's the risk he chose to take.

Honestly? Yeah. We're talking about a guy who's been around those things since he was that age. He knew, often from personal experience, more about a crocodile's reach, reaction speed, and behaviour patterns than just about anybody else.

Uh-huh.

Did he have his Magical Anti-Trip Shield +4 installed and activated? He's human, he can make mistakes, fall down, whatever.

It's rather like Ray Horn - a man who spent his life raising and training tigers. Oops! Shit happens. No matter how knowledgable and careful you are, shit can still happen.

[Darth Wong]

Honestly? Yeah. We're talking about a guy who's been around those things since he was that age. He knew, often from personal experience, more about a crocodile's reach, reaction speed, and behaviour patterns than just about anybody else.

Tell me, have you ever been responsible for anything really important in your entire fucking life?

[Darth Garden Gnome]

Well, he was a cool dude whose luck ran out. Stingray shot a barb up into his heart from underfoot, what are the odds? Rest in peace, Steve.

[Keevan_Colton]

Well, he was a cool dude whose luck ran out. Stingray shot a barb up into his heart from underfoot, what are the odds? Rest in peace, Steve.

He's only the second person ever in australia to be killed by a stingray.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

I was surprised too. But anybody who considers a stingray harmless has more than one loose screw. I've only seen a small one in an aquarium, but even the small ones can fuck you up. My friend Kaljamaha had a run-in with a smallish stingray once in Nicaragua when he stepped on it (it was hiding under the loose bottom sand) in shallow water. The stingray won that round and he said it hurt like hell having his leg stung. A stingray big enough to actualy impale a man with that stinger is an altogether different class of dangerous.

According to CNN, the stingray wasn't even part of the show - it was just buried in the sand and nailed him as soon as he swam over it:

Irwin was in the area to film pieces for a show called "Ocean's Deadliest" with Phillippe Cousteau, grandson of Jacques, Irwin's manager and friend John Stainton told CNN's "American Morning." But weather had prevented the crew from doing work for that program, said Stainton, so Irwin decided to do some softer features for a new children's TV show he was doing with his daughter, Bindi.

"He came over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand, and the barb came up and hit him in the chest," said Stainton.

Conflicting reports. Accounts from the film crew suggest that they saw the bull ray and were swimming with it.

Cameraman tells of fatal stingray blow
September 04, 2006
CROCODILE Hunter Steve Irwin was killed when a bull ray lashed out at him in shallow water, marine documentary maker Ben Cropp said today.

Mr Cropp, who was also diving on the Great Barrier Reef today, said he contacted a member of Irwin's production crew late today.

“I spoke to one of the guys who was out there, who saw the footage. I wanted to get the truth,” said Mr Cropp, 70, who also runs a museum at Port Douglas.

Mr Cropp said Irwin was swimming as his cameraman was filming bull rays at Batt Reef, when the tragedy occurred.

“In this case he was swimming alongside a bull ray, a big black ray and the cameraman would have been in front, filming him.”

“Steve got probably maybe a bit too close to the ray, and with the cameraman in front, the ray must have felt sort of cornered.

“It baulked but didn't spook and go racing away, which would have been fine.

“It went into a defensive mode, stopped, turned around and lashed out with its tail which has a considerable spike on it.

“Unfortunately Steve was directly in its path and he took a fatal wound.

“It was a freak accident in that it caught him in the chest, near the heart.”

Mr Cropp said the incident occurred in shallow water, less than two metres deep, and members of the film crew were “very upset”.

“I trust this person has told me the full info ... he admired Steve, the way I do, and he would have liked to get everything straight so there are no false stories running around.”

Mr Cropp, who has made a number of documentaries over the years, also said he had experienced similar responses from stingrays that he was filming.

[Xisiqomelir]

According to the thread he apologized for the incident with the child.

Actually, I remember an interview for Channel 9 where he ripped on the media for hyperbole and hysteria and showed a tape from the Australia zoo camera to contrast the head-on footage the media was running. He then said that such behaviour was normal for his family, and his father had done the same for him at the same age.

Youtube link

[Keevan_Colton]

According to the thread he apologized for the incident with the child.

Actually, I remember an interview for Channel 9 where he ripped on the media for hyperbole and hysteria and showed a tape from the Australia zoo camera to contrast the head-on footage the media was running. He then said that such behaviour was normal for his family, and his father had done the same for him at the same age.

Youtube link

I'll say it again, those kids are safer with him gone.

[Cao Cao]

Hot damn. This is Twilight Zone level irony.

While he was irresponsable from our perspective, the fact remains he was brought up that way and was supremely confident in his abilities.
Technically, now he will never be proven wrong, so to speak.

[Ubiquitous]

He lived life to the fullest and was clearly very passionate about animals. He entertained millions and whilst his untimely death has robbed him of watching his children grow up, he died doing what he loved - working with animals.

RIP.

[Darth Wong]

While he was irresponsable from our perspective ...

Risk management and responsibility are not as subjective as you seem to imply.

[Big Orange]

Steve Irwin was a very, very reckless guy that spent his entire career around the famously huge Australian crocs and the most poisonous snakes in the world. It was only a matter of time that the crazy guy would eventually come a cropper and harrass the wrong animal. While Irwin was essentially an amiable guy, what he did his small boy around that giant croc was almost unforgivable (although he regretted it later and apologised). His death was the result of a split second moment of misjudgement and what if the same fatal slip up on his part occurred with him with his baby around that crocodile?

[Keevan_Colton]

Steve Irwin was a very, very reckless guy that spent his entire career around the famously huge Australian crocs and the most poisonous snakes in the world. It was only a matter of time that the crazy guy would eventually come a cropper and harrass the wrong animal. While Irwin was essentially an amiable guy, what he did his small boy around that giant croc was almost unforgivable (although he regretted it later and apologised). His death was the result of a split second moment of misjudgement and what if the same fatal slip up on his part occurred with him with his baby around that crocodile?

Did you watch that clip posted above?

[Aaron]

Steve Irwin was a very, very reckless guy that spent his entire career around the famously huge Australian crocs and the most poisonous snakes in the world. It was only a matter of time that the crazy guy would eventually come a cropper and harrass the wrong animal. While Irwin was essentially an amiable guy, what he did his small boy around that giant croc was almost unforgivable (although he regretted it later and apologised). His death was the result of a split second moment of misjudgement and what if the same fatal slip up on his part occurred with him with his baby around that crocodile?

Watch the clip man, he didn't just have the baby in the pen. He was walking the baby on the edge of the croc pond! If the croc wanted to the baby would have been lunch.

[Keevan_Colton]

Steve Irwin was a very, very reckless guy that spent his entire career around the famously huge Australian crocs and the most poisonous snakes in the world. It was only a matter of time that the crazy guy would eventually come a cropper and harrass the wrong animal. While Irwin was essentially an amiable guy, what he did his small boy around that giant croc was almost unforgivable (although he regretted it later and apologised). His death was the result of a split second moment of misjudgement and what if the same fatal slip up on his part occurred with him with his baby around that crocodile?

Watch the clip man, he didn't just have the baby in the pen. He was walking the baby on the edge of the croc pond! If the croc wanted to the baby would have been lunch.

And amusingly enough for those saying that he knows what he's doing...You tube has a feature that links to related videos, and the one linked to from that is of Stevey getting grabbed and dragged down by a croc and some other folk having to get him away from it.

[Aaron]

And amusingly enough for those saying that he knows what he's doing...You tube has a feature that links to related videos, and the one linked to from that is of Stevey getting grabbed and dragged down by a croc and some other folk having to get him away from it.

I have no doubt that he is experianced with crocs but even the most experianced person can be taken unawares or let his guard down. These animals are unpredictable and dangerous. There are numerous times on his show when he gets bitten or hurt by a croc or snake. I saw an episode where he was mowing the lawn in an enclosure of a croc and he got too close to the pond and the croc lunged out and almost got him, Irwen barely made it over the fence with his skin.

[Big Orange]

Did you watch that clip posted above?

I've finally seen the clip and I see your point; Irwin was clearly an idiot and I was not really surprised at his untimely demise. And although he initially dug himself deeper into the hole in that interview, you never heard about him doing something that silly and dangerous with kids after that infamous incident.

[Pick]

Yeah, that was a dumb and reckless thing for him to do. It is also entirely unimportant at this point, as he never did it again, and now never can. The reality of that issue is clear, so it would probably be better not to harp on this in the thread notifying us of his death. There is a respect issue that would be nice to maintain.

[Keevan_Colton]

I always wonder why being dead instantly means someone needs to be treated with respect.

[Aaron]

I always wonder why being dead instantly means someone needs to be treated with respect.

It's one thing to go to a guys funeral and scream that he's a tool, thats a little over the top but I see no reason why we should have to treat the dead with any particular reverence on the net.

[Keevan_Colton]

I always wonder why being dead instantly means someone needs to be treated with respect.

It's one thing to go to a guys funeral and scream that he's a tool, thats a little over the top but I see no reason why we should have to treat the dead with any particular reverence on the net.

It's something of a derailment, but I was just struck by that remark and the phrases such as "dont speak ill of the dead" and so on.

Certainly harassing the living is out, but automatically respecting someone just because they got themselves killed doesnt make much sense to me. Everyone dies eventually, but that doesnt mean everyone is eventually worthy of some respect.