Crocodile Hunter dead at 44 - Stung by Stingray

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2006-09-05 03:25am

One of the few true, genuine(tm) australians has left us. Truly we will all remember how real genuine(tm) aussies are supposed to act through his programs. Never forget!

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-09-05 04:15am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:CRIKEY!What's really horrible is this is probably on tape, like when Roy got mauled by the tiger.

RIP, Mate.

The stingray was all stressed out! (sorry SDN history)

damn, we just heard about it here in yosemite.

part of me feels sorry for his family and all, partt of me, see this as the odds finally catching up to him.

Well so much for the theory that he was an exception to the "Darwin Awards" rules, oh wait it isn't, he did pass on his genetic information, and he did get killed by a ray he was just swimming over that sensed a disturbance in the water and thought it might be edible....

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-05 04:34am

Having spent a LOT of time around stingrays myself (we have no shortage of them in Tassie and I've been an avid snorkeler and SCUBA diver) I have to say that this was, as the experts have pointed out, a one-in-a-million shot that the stingray got him with. That said though, if its one thing that you learn very early on, its that you NEVER go right over the top of a ray, just in case you do spook it. And to clarify something (I've had a lot of people at work talking about how stingrays are only small and how would the barb reach his heart)... I've personally seen while diving and fishing stingrays that are AT LEAST 7ft across the "wings" and have barbs in excess of a foot long (we had quite a collection at one point from having to cut them out of nets), that is how one spears you through your fucking heart.

Post by **Edi** » 2006-09-05 06:53am

The Yosemite Bear wrote:The stingray was all stressed out! (sorry SDN history)

Actually, that'd be correct if the description posted earlier in the thread was accurate at all. Boxing the ray in at a shallow depth was really goddamn stupid, because things that are capable of defending themselves will do so if they feel like somebody is preparing to snack on them and they don't have a clear avenue of escape.

weemadando wrote:to clarify something (I've had a lot of people at work talking about how stingrays are only small and how would the barb reach his heart)... I've personally seen while diving and fishing stingrays that are AT LEAST 7ft across the "wings" and have barbs in excess of a foot long (we had quite a collection at one point from having to cut them out of nets), that is how one spears you through your fucking heart.

I've never had occasion to swim in waters that had stingrays in them unless the Mediterranean counts, but I've seen some pretty fuckingbig stingrays in nature films. Poisonous, with sharp bits that can hurt you even without the venom and in an element where a human can't breathe if something goes wrong (seizure or whatever else). What part of that does NOT scream "Keep your fucking distance!" to people? Even if kill shots like this are one in a million?

Edi

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-09-05 07:04am

I have never been a fan of Irwin's shows and stunts, I don't like the way he treats the animals he showcases. He always seem to be forcing the animals to do something dangerous (snapping or striking) by provoking them intentionally.

I do feel sorry for his family that he's been killed.

Xisiqomelir · Post by **Xisiqomelir** » 2006-09-05 07:47am

I'm guessing the ray was under a shallow layer of sand and Irwin+cameraman were close to the seabed.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-05 07:55am

I've heard a lot of 'zomg only two people have ever been killed by stingrays' stuff going around. However, when you're training for a scuba license, stingrays are one of those things they keep telling you to watch out for. They hang around close to the seabed and they're camoflaged. If you step on one or disturb it, it's tail swings up in a reflex, and like Ando says they're pretty fucking mean things. So are scubadivers really careful, or aren't they that dangerous?

Post by **Edi** » 2006-09-05 08:13am

Most often people get stung in the legs, which is painful but non-fatal. Getting stabbed in the chest by what amounts to a hollow, poison-filled knife is another story, though, and that's what happened to Irwin. I expect quite a few people get stabbed by stingies every year but they just have to hobble around with a fucked up leg for a while before it heals. Not something I'd care to try, though. I need to ask Kaljamaha what exactly it felt like when he got stung.

The worst sting I've ever had was a wasp stinging me in the tip of my little finger and that was fucking painful for days. The poison had nowhere to disperse unlike when they sting you in the leg or back or wherever, it was all in the finger that swelled to almost double its normal size and I couldn't bend or mover it for three or four days. I don't know the comparative strengths and other properties of wasp venom vs stingray venom, but the quantity in any given wasp sting is much less than what the stingray will deliver. Extrapolating from there yields the result of "OWWWWW!!"

Edi

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-09-05 08:31am

Darth Wong wrote:
Cao Cao wrote:While he was irresponsable from our perspective ...
Risk management and responsibility are not as subjective as you seem to imply.

No I didn't mean to say it like that. I was never fond of a lot of his antics for one thing.
Just that from his perspective, his way of life meant doing these things and I doubt he ever thought he was ever putting himself or others in extreme danger. Of course, that subjectivity is.. well, was entirely his own.

I realise that this same logic can be applied to any hairbrained daredevil and I'm not really trying to defend him. I just don't think he was as stupid as some imply either.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2006-09-05 09:03am

Cao Cao wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Cao Cao wrote:While he was irresponsable from our perspective ...
Risk management and responsibility are not as subjective as you seem to imply.
No I didn't mean to say it like that. I was never fond of a lot of his antics for one thing.
Just that from his perspective, his way of life meant doing these things and I doubt he ever thought he was ever putting himself or others in extreme danger. Of course, that subjectivity is.. well, was entirely his own.

I realise that this same logic can be applied to any hairbrained daredevil and I'm not really trying to defend him. I just don't think he was as stupid as some imply either.

See my little bit on the perspective of shithead pedophiles on the previous page.

I cant stand this sort of bullshit "we cant judge others actions/cultures/ideas". Yes we fucking well can.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2006-09-05 11:17am

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

Perhaps. If you watch the same video clip he seem to of acknowledged that he had a lapse in judgment. Did he ever take any other risks with his children after that incident? I didn't hear of any, but I don't keep up on Irwin news.

He was a risk taker, and that makes him foolish. However, from what I've heard he was a good person, and certainly does not deserve it, and his family probably is not better off because he was a loving dad. Let's hope that his wife has some sort of insurance, or other skills that she can support their children with.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2006-09-05 11:20am

Where did he acknowledge a lapse in judgement?

He just made sure he didnt do that shit in front of cameras anymore, not a fucking improvement really.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2006-09-05 11:51am

This very shocking. I have grown up watching this guy on TV. He will be missed by many.

Rest in peace good sir.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2006-09-05 12:05pm

Xisiqomelir wrote:I'm guessing the ray was under a shallow layer of sand and Irwin+cameraman were close to the seabed.

No. At least one news story posted earlier in this very thread specifically states that they (him and his cameraman) were filming a stingray that they could see swimming around.

The fact of the matter is that Steve Irwin was doing what he usually did, i.e. he was getting up-close and personal with potentially dangerous wildlife. And like on too many other occasions, the wildlife in question felt crowded and lashed out. Unfortunately, that time, his luck ran out.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-09-05 12:21pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:See my little bit on the perspective of shithead pedophiles on the previous page.

A daredevil way of life hardly compares to some bastard satisfying his demented urges on a kid.
Sure they may both be perspectives, but some we can accept. Others we obviously can't.

I cant stand this sort of bullshit "we cant judge others actions/cultures/ideas". Yes we fucking well can.

We can say what he did was irresponsible, sure. We can say the real Aussie man culture of getting real close to dangerous animals is risky and whacked.
But in the end, Steve Irwin wasn't a bad man and he did at least use his fame for good causes. Yes he was a daredevil. Yes he's not an example for any family man. And I don't agree with some of the stuff he pulled. But no, I don't think he is particularily deserving of some of the bashing he recieves, and not just because he's dead.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-09-05 12:58pm

Seggybop wrote:Given his supposed level of awareness, the infant ought to be safer with him than inside a car, which kills more children than any other cause.

And so we learn that Seggybop has absolutely no comprehension whatsoever of how probabilities work.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2006-09-05 01:44pm

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:No. At least one news story posted earlier in this very thread specifically states that they (him and his cameraman) were filming a stingray that they could see swimming around.

The fact of the matter is that Steve Irwin was doing what he usually did, i.e. he was getting up-close and personal with potentially dangerous wildlife. And like on too many other occasions, the wildlife in question felt crowded and lashed out. Unfortunately, that time, his luck ran out.

Steve Irwin's Death Caught on Tape

CAIRNS, Australia (Sept. 5) -- Steve Irwin was videotaped pulling a poisonous stingray barb from his chest in his last moments of life, officials said Tuesday, as tributes poured in for TV's "Crocodile Hunter."

Police said there was nothing suspicious about Irwin's death and no evidence he provoked the animal. Irwin, 44, was stabbed through the heart on Monday while snorkeling with a stingray during filming of a new TV program on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

John Stainton, Irwin's manager who was among the crew on the reef, said the fatal blow was caught on videotape, and described viewing the footage as having the "terrible" experience of watching a friend die.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone," Stainton told reporters in Cairns, where Irwin 's body was taken for an autopsy.

Queensland state police were holding the tape as evidence for a coroner's inquiry - a standard procedure in high-profile deaths or those caused by other than natural causes.

Experts have said the stingray may have felt trapped between the cameraman and the TV star. Irwin, the popular host of "Crocodile Hunter," rose to fame by getting dangerously close to crocodiles, snakes and other beasts.

But Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said there was no evidence Irwin threatened or intimidated the stingray, a normally placid species that only deploys its poisonous tail spines as a defense.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2006-09-05 01:52pm

Cao Cao wrote:A daredevil way of life hardly compares to some bastard satisfying his demented urges on a kid.

We can say what he did was irresponsible, sure. We can say the real Aussie man culture of getting real close to dangerous animals is risky and whacked.
But in the end, Steve Irwin wasn't a bad man and he did at least use his fame for good causes. Yes he was a daredevil. Yes he's not an example for any family man. And I don't agree with some of the stuff he pulled. But no, I don't think he is particularily deserving of some of the bashing he recieves, and not just because he's dead.

Agreed. With the exception of that idiotic stunt with his kid, I didn't find him too objectionable. I also don't see why he'd be an "embarassment" to Australians. He's done more than most for the protection of wildlife, never harmed anyone or was responsible for anyone being harmed, as far as I know.

I can only hope Charles Manson receives even half the venom demonstrated in this thread when he kicks.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2006-09-05 01:56pm

Even if he was a daredevil, I really do feel sorry for him - getting killed by a Sting Ray is an extremely unlikely way to go. I got hit by one of those bastards on my left foot when I was twelve, and all I got was swelling and pain (in fact, when I first got stung, I thought that maybe I'd accidently poked myself on a sharp piece of wood).

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2006-09-05 01:56pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Seggybop wrote:Given his supposed level of awareness, the infant ought to be safer with him than inside a car, which kills more children than any other cause.
And so we learn that Seggybop has absolutely no comprehension whatsoever of how probabilities work.

Yeah, that was retarded. Sorry.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-09-05 02:25pm

Didn't his wife used to go out with him and do the animal stuff? I seem to remember her on a few shows.

Battlehymn Republic · Post by **Battlehymn Republic** » 2006-09-05 03:04pm

Lord Poe wrote:I can only hope Charles Manson receives even half the venom demonstrated in this thread when he kicks.

Leads me to wonder how much flak Evel Knievel will be taking here when it's his turn.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-09-05 03:22pm

Battlehymn Republic wrote:
Lord Poe wrote:I can only hope Charles Manson receives even half the venom demonstrated in this thread when he kicks.
Leads me to wonder how much flak Evel Knievel will be taking here when it's his turn.

The difference is, Knievel won't die doing a stunt.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2006-09-05 03:44pm

I understand that some Australians may have been embarassed by Steve Irwins antics, but as an American I assumed anyways that all you Australians said Crickey! all of the time

Seriously though he will be missed. I've always enjoyed watching the Crocodile Hunter. Yes he has done many foolish and dangerous things and that is unfortunate, but he was very outspoken on issues of conservation and understanding wildlife and I respect him for that.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2006-09-05 04:36pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:Where did he acknowledge a lapse in judgement?

He just made sure he didnt do that shit in front of cameras anymore, not a fucking improvement really.

My mistake. Not an acknowledgment, but he does say "perhaps I'd do it differently"

He just made sure that the camera man wasn't around? Oh good, Keevan. Then you know that he's done it before. Let's see your evidence...

Until you can present some evidence, the fact that he hasn't done that again should say something, and that's especially true when you're willing to condemn a man for one stupid act, but completely ignore every other positive thing he's done in his entire life. Which IS what you're doing.

Also, all the bullshit about him being an unnecessary risk taker. That's his job. Would you say the same about deep sea divers? Some jobs require dangerous risks, and he took those risks so the viewers could have a unique look at the animals he loved.

Bottom line is he took risks, but he did so not because he was oblivious to the risks, but because he knew them, and he knew the animals. Which is probably why he wasn't eaten by a croc, or bitten by a snake, but surprised by an animal that isn't known for being deadly, and one he didn't even realize was beneath him hiding in the sand. That could happen to anyone who goes into the ocean.