just found out from an aussie friend that steve irwin was killed by a stingray

i thought this was another reoocurrance of the same urban legend of him dying every couple of months.... but... if this is a hoax, it has good agents...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=a4L4NuwpEE3E&refer=australia

http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=2fa659e4-3b92-4f25-967b-6e66d4273f4b&k=98762

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=18897

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2572539

he mannerisms may have been mildly annonying but he certainly did mean well.....

It's all over the News Channels online, I just found out when our a teacher told us during lunch.

OMG.... is it really true? I too thought it was a hoax, but then I saw it posted as a headline on CNN. I've always been a great fan of the Croc Hunter, and this feels almost unreal.... similar to when I heard the news about John Lennon's assassination. What a horrible, horrible tragedy -- I can only guess how poor Terri and little Bindi must feel (I assume the little boy is too young to understand, perhaps mercifully). May God rest his sweet soul.... he brought so much joy to so many sentient beings, human and otherwise. Ciao my beloved Steve -- I will miss you with all my heart. :cry:

As you say, the sources certainly seem credible. It sounds, er, fishy, though... This is pretty atypical for a stingray injury, but it's not impossible. Most stingay injuries occur when someone steps on a ray that's hiding under the sand, and it whips the stinger up and typically gets the diver in the leg. If a diver were swim/crawling along the bottom, I suppose a chest strike would be possible, and of course, he may have been playing with the animal or something. Stingray venom is somewhat nasty, but it doesn't frequently cause fatalities... It does sometimes have cardiac effects, though, so I imagine that this might have been a significant envenomation near the heart that was enough to cause heart failure. The book I'm looking at also mentions that some species can get to be 12 feet by 6 feet, so I expect if it was one of those, the venom dose might be a lot bigger than "typical." It's certainly sad news, in any case...

according to CNN, it was in the chest...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

while it wouldn't be immediate, infection is also a risk with stingray wounds.... ask a coworker of mine....

Truly sad... =(

Not happy with the terminology being used by the media, 'stingray attacks' just do not happen. He must have been buggering about with it as usual...

He had been playing Russian Roulette with animals for long enough, it was only a matter of time

according to CNN, it was in the chest...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

while it wouldn't be immediate, infection is also a risk with stingray wounds.... ask a coworker of mine....

From all the stuff I read, it sounds much more immediate than that... from this article (http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Croc-Hunter-Irwin-killed-by-stingray/2006/09/04/1157222051588.html):

Mr Irwin had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

this expert (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20350156-1702,00.html) seems to more or less agree with my book that it's pretty atypical for a stingray injury...

I suppose it's also possible he was allergic to the venom, or that the chest trauma itself (possibly combined with being underwater) was the cause of the death, so the venom wasn't really the issue.

But yeah, secondary bacterial infection is frequently more of a problem from stingray stings than the venom... I'm really shocked, though, since most diving first aid books don't treat stingray stings as an immediate life-threatening situation... the book I'm looking at emphasizes cleaning the wound more than anything else, although it does say that the patient should be monitored for systemic effects. But mostly, flush with cold liquid, irrigate and clean out the wound, then heat treat the wound to neutralize the venom, and maybe use a light tourniquet. Although it lists "death" as a possible, er, complication, it doesn't offer any suggestion to counter it: "Fatalities have been reported secondary to intra-abdominal and thoracic trauma" sounds like it applies here...

we've pulled up roughtail stingrays that more or less have a stiletto on their tail.... upsize that if it was something like a smooth stingray and add in less than safe behavior (being above it, etc) and i can see how it would be more than possible....

we've pulled up roughtail stingrays that more or less have a stiletto on their tail.... upsize that if it was something like a smooth stingray and add in less than safe behavior (being above it, etc) and i can see how it would be more than possible....

Yeah, even without the venom, that could do all sorts of damage. I wonder if we'll ever find out if death resulted from trauma or from venom... Certainly, a stiletto whipped around like that could have just punctured the aorta or something, venom notwithstanding. Anyway, sad to see him gone, although I suppose this is appropriate for someone who made his living demonstrating high-risk behavior with dangerous animals. :sad:

I remember footage from late in her life where Leni Reifenstahl was filming an underwater documentary in the Indian Ocean, and she and her dive partner were swimming right next to a masssive stingray along the bottom - the thing had to be as big as a king-sized bed. They were treating it with kid gloves however, so it didn't seem to mind them around. A simple whip into somebody's chest from a ray that size could indeed prove fatal; even if the venom dosage were not the primary culprit, a knife to the heart is a knife to the heart.

RIP Steve Irwin. You were a complete lunatic.

Hmm, my last post was written while Monty's went up. Sorry if it seems a little redundant.

Local radio here is actually saying, 'stabbed through the heart'

so either a huge ray or it could have been anaphylactic shock

OMG...I just changed channels last night cause he was doing some silly skit about being chased across a golf course by a thousands of pounds croc. What a shame. He may have been annoying at times but his passion for creatures was very alluring and I'm sure drew many in who otherwise would not have been willing to learn about creatures.

RIP Steve Irwin -- a true pioneer. He laid it all out. Gave 110% for all of us to enjoy, and learn from. Thank you Steve Irwin!

Yep, absolutely as Carol said. This is sad news, he may have been a complete lunatic but his enthusiasm was very infectious. Kids loved him and he did an awful lot of valuable work promoting Australia and Australia Zoo. Very unfortunate, but he really was an accident waiting to happen.

Austin Stevens, take note.

Personally, I'm crushed by this. On the other hand, I always knew he'd be killed by some dangerous wild animal. He spent too much time annoying them for the cameras. He was WAY too cavalier in his treatment of them in how he caught them, how he showed-them off to his audience. For the last many years I've been expecting him to be killed in action by... something. You understand, a venomous snake, or a Komodo Dragon, or a deadly arthropod, or - something. I mean, really, frankly this was inevitable. But a fish? Still, it's a sad, sad thing. He got a lot of the World personally acquainted with what was out there in it. That's always an immortal, great thing. He accomplished something on a popular scale last reached by Jacques Yves-Cousteau. That's hardly unimpressive. He'll be deeply missed by most of us.

Boy he could be annoying.

God rest you, Steve Irwin. You made a bunch of us routinely happy.

That's a real difficult accomplishment.

My sympathies go to Terri and his family. I hope she keeps things going.

Erich

What he said.

I only had a chance to work with Steve once, while he was doing some filming on rattlesnakes, and I spent most of my time shaking my head as he picked them up by the tail, etc. Nuts.
But, he also influenced a ton of children about not hunting big game, and how to look at wildlife through excited eyes. Perhaps I didn't agree with his methods, but the end product sure worked. Sad news.

If only someone could share their enthusiasm for fossils as Steve did for wild animals.

RIP Steve.

There is truly some Horrid Irony to this event- just last night around the same time he was killed, I had ray for dinner... (Im not joking). He was my idol throughout my childhood, when I was in the 3rd grade my friends and I used to jump fences and climb trees like him... he even inspired my alias...:cry: :cry:

"My heart as joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today"

He accomplished something on a popular scale last reached by Jacques Yves-Cousteau.
... I don't think you should use the names Irwin and Cousteau in the same sentence, on the same page, or book even - heck, these two names should not be mentioned on the same planet! I realise that your reference is to 'scale' though.

Let this be the end to bio-'reality' TV!

Wow, some people seem to be quite annoyed with Mr. Irwin. I must admit, when I first saw the "Croc Hunter" on TV, he rather annoyed me too how he handled the critters. I grew up in a houehold in which me dad (also RIP) kept and bred reptiles and arthropods (snakes, tortoises, geckos, tarantulas, scorpions, beetles, etc.) for the pet trade, some of which were dangerous, so I was familiar with the handling of dangerous animals. The way that he approached these animals seems entirely too arrogant and without their due respect. This view softened greatly over time.
I also agree with you, Steve, that Irwin and Cousteau are in entirely seperate leagues (Cousteau was a scientist, Irwin a zealous zookeeper with a TV show), Irwin, in my belief, has done a great service to biology and conservation. Here in the states, I know many people he helped to inspire become biologists and conservationists. In order for the public at large to care about nature, they need to witness it with there own eyes. Many of these people, living deep in the urban sprawl, or simply too lazy, will never see any more of nature that what comes to them through the tube. Irwin offered this cross-section of people a personal look through awe-fill eyes at some of natures most interesting creatures, in stark constrast to the often austere and dispassionate reporting of many documentaries. While I still do not agree with Irwin's handling of many of these critters, and his personality somewhat grates with me, I have a respect for what he has done. I for one will miss him.

Absolutely with Taollan here.

According to Wikipedia, Steve founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, (aka Wildlife Warriors Worldwide), International Crocodile Rescue and the Lyn Irwin Memorial Fund with proceeds going to the Iron Bark Station Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. His programmes helped fund and publicise Australia Zoo and he personally bought large tracts of land in Fiji, Australia, Vanuatu and the US to be maintained as wildlife parks. Apparantly he even discovered a species of turtle off Queensland which was named after him!

No matter what one thinks of his programmes, one cannot argue with the validity of those actions, surely?

A tragic loss.

terribly sad yet ironic

well put, Taollan & Phil.

I also agree with you, Steve, that Irwin and Cousteau are in entirely seperate leagues (Cousteau was a scientist, Irwin a zealous zookeeper with a TV show)

Cousteau a scientist? Explorer, sure. Conservationist, sure, at least while the cameras were rolling. But scientist? He always struck me as a silly old french man with access to a lot of money, who liked to dazzle us with footage no one else could afford to go out and shoot. It always seemed to me that his films were just him and his crew playing with expensive toys. Fortunately, his frolic-ing yielded positive results, like increased ocean awareness and SCUBA, but I wouldn't call him a scientist.

Apparently when the Cousteau society folk used to come to the Santa Barbara area, they used the services of the Anacapa Dive Center where a buddy of mine works. Word around the scuttlebutt is that once the cameras were off, the Cousteaus declared open season on just about anything that could swim and ended up killing a whole lot more than they could possibly eat.

... I don't think you should use the names Irwin and Cousteau in the same sentence, on the same page, or book even - heck, these two names should not be mentioned on the same planet! I realise that your reference is to 'scale' though.

Let this be the end to bio-'reality' TV!

Uh, yeah, Steve. That was a reference to 'scale'.

Cousteau was to our oceans
as
Sagan was to our cosmos
as
Fossey was to gorillas
as
Irwin was to reptiles?

:?:

Cousteau a scientist? Explorer, sure. Conservationist, sure, at least while the cameras were rolling. But scientist? He always struck me as a silly old french man with access to a lot of money, who liked to dazzle us with footage no one else could afford to go out and shoot. It always seemed to me that his films were just him and his crew playing with expensive toys. Fortunately, his frolic-ing yielded positive results, like increased ocean awareness and SCUBA, but I wouldn't call him a scientist.

Apparently when the Cousteau society folk used to come to the Santa Barbara area, they used the services of the Anacapa Dive Center where a buddy of mine works. Word around the scuttlebutt is that once the cameras were off, the Cousteaus declared open season on just about anything that could swim and ended up killing a whole lot more than they could possibly eat.

Cousteau taught an acquaintance of mine to scuba as a boy while he was dating his mother(this boy's roster of "Mom's new special friends" also included William Shatner). He was a lot more like Bill Murray's character in "The Life Aquatic" than most realize. Not a scientist. There are some stories regarding the "Octopus, Octopus" episode about how he "persuaded" the octopus to demonstrate it's escaping capabilities that I'm not going to repeat here for fear of a libel suit against me and Tonmo. Still, I grew up with Cousteau. He was my first hero, other than Captain Nemo.

Ok, I misstated the point with "scientist". I withdraw that comment.

This kinda sucks
cuz my kids loved that dude

Cousteau was to our oceans
as
Sagan was to our cosmos
as
Fossey was to gorillas
as
Irwin was to reptiles?


not saying this is wrong but i think this might need more clarification than a:b::c:d...

:hmm:

weather or not some of his working methods were credible or respected steve irwin did educate the public, promote concervation, and entertain. so for that i think his death is a loss.

i hate to say it, but it was going to happen sooner or later. i mean the guy made a living out of pissing off animals and then recordign their reactions.
eather way, rip....


chris

WK: It may in fact be wrong... just musing! It's in the context of who brought these "mysterious" things closer to us than anyone else, on mass scale? Each of the people above were renown.

My wife says its ok because he would not have wanted to die in his sleep anyway.
Lots of people baggin on old boy but hes seemed like he was the real deal. A guy who loved what he did. A lay scientist in his own fashion. He knew more than most of the planet about animals and how they act and react. and he shared that with a lot of people.
I for one will miss him. My kids were devoted fans. He showed them places and things they will never see in real life.
he was only 44 but he lived more than most of us in that time.

and I dont think Steve is the kind to Rest In Piece. too much getup and go for that.

Whether we loved him or hated him, we did learn from him. Either way, getting speared by a ray is a horrible way to go and it's a terribly sad situation no matter what camp we are in. I'm just grateful that he went doing something he loved and more importantly he went quickly. RIP Steve...

I haven't read the article, but the intro to it pretty much sums things up

"Steve Irwin: The incredible story of the wildlife warrior
To some, he was just a reckless attention-seeker. To others, he was the lovable bloke from the Outback whose antics with the world's most dangerous creatures made him irresistible. But the shocking death of Steve Irwin has deprived Australia of one of its most colourful personalities. Were the voyeuristic demands of television to blame? Or was it just a random, tragic accident?"
Read on here (http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1363085.ece)

just read this (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/05/irwin.death/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&eref=yahoo) story...., so it wasn't quite instantaneous.

just read this (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/05/irwin.death/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&eref=yahoo) story...., so it wasn't quite instantaneous.

No it wouldn't have been and it would have been a painful way to go as well. As I understand it the toxin causes tissue necrosis...........pretty horrible.

J

Dear Everybody,

We've gotten a wide range of reactions here. But just to clarify things:

Steve was absolutely not "messing around with" or "annoying" the stingray when it speared him. He was simply swimming near the bottom and the ray -- concealed in the sand, as rays frequently are -- sensed the presence of something above it, felt trapped, and instinctively struck out with its spike.

Steve had no idea that the ray was below him, and the stingray had no idea that the figure above it posed no threat. Neither Steve nor the poor frightened ray were to blame. Period.

As for all those critiques of Steve's behavior with animals -- let us not forget how many creatures of all species (including koalas, kangaroos, crocs, and snakes) were rescued by Steve and the Australia Zoo crew, and treated with loving care, after being run over by cars or otherwise victimized by those less considerate of wildlife than the Irwin family and their friends.

When the media came out of the woodwork in droves to condemn Steve's "annoyance" of animals, I was tempted to ask each one of them, "How many animals have you rescued in your life? And how many kids have you taught the importance of protecting all species -- even the ones traditionally considered ugly or dangerous?"

So many public figures are eager to come to the defense of species that are warm, fuzzy, cuddly, and/or majestic. Land mammals, pinnipeds, cetaceans, and birds make great Poster Children for the conservation movement. But for true conservationists like Steve, that wasn't enough. He and his colleagues worked to educate the general public about crocodilians, snakes, arachnids, and other "creepy crawlies", counteracting their negative public image and emphasizing the necessity of preserving these species as well as the conventionally "pretty" ones.

One more tragic footnote: According to today's news report -- in a supremely ironic development that I can only describe as "Revenge of the Morons" -- about 110 stingrays have been found killed and mutilated along the Australian shores. Apparently a cadre of Captain Ahab wannabes took it upon themselves to punish an entire species for an innocent reflex reaction by one of its members.

Somewhere in Heaven right now, Steve Irwin must be shaking his head in utter exasperation and saying, "Crikey, mates, what the bloody hell were you thinking?"

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain."

-- Friedrich von Schiller, as quoted by Dr. Isaac Asimov

Tani
(praying that someday Homo sapiens
will wake up and smell the coffee)

This is absolutely senseless (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5338118.stm)

Irwin fans 'in revenge attacks'
Stingrays have been found dead on two Queensland beaches
Dead stingrays with their tails cut off have been found in Australia, sparking concern that fans of naturalist Steve Irwin may be avenging his death.
Mr Irwin, a TV personality known as the "Crocodile Hunter", was killed while diving in Queensland when a stingray's barb stabbed him in the chest.

Since then, 10 stingrays have been found mutilated on Queensland beaches.

(and the article goes on)

.... if these really are Irwin fans then his conservation message was lost on them!

I already had a feeling that whatever Jaws did to the sharks, Steve Irwins death is going to do with stingrays.
I hoped that poeple would actually remember that Steve Irwin taught about conservation before killing something in revenge, but obviously, they didn't.

Hearing the news last Monday broke my heart. I loved that guy. He's an idol of mine. He was about as genuine as people come as far as I'm concerned.

All this news of the Stingray killings is pretty ridiculous. Brilliant folks there.