Noooo!!!!!!

Crazy J

Spaceman
How can this be? I just have such a hard time believing it. Nevertheless, all evidence points to the fact that the Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, has tragically passed away while filming off the great barrier reef. Apparently, one of the stingray's just got pissed off at him, and his poisoned stinger actually went clear through his chest and pierced his heart.

If you want more solid proof, it's at www.yahoo.com and is actually headline news there. This is truely a tragic day - that man was awesome to the core. He really will be missed by many. Adieu, Steve Irwin. May you find as much adventure and excitement in the afterlife as you have in this one.
 
yeah I was waitin to hear a crock did it but I imagine he wasnt so swift underwater as he was on land with the crocks. poor guy
 
jaeger said:
...I imagine he wasnt so swift underwater as he was on land with the crocks. poor guy

The way I understood the reports, agility had little to do with it. He might not have seen the stingray until the last second (as it was in the sand) and the sting ray reacted defensively to most likely feeling cornered or something. It would have been lightning fast with the ray's tail whipping up like a scorions tail and stabbing him in the chest. It was a freak, one in a million, accident.
 
He may have died young, but he sure crammed a whole lot more living into his years than most of us will ever come close to. He had a dangerous job, he knew it, he loved it, and he was paid extremely well for it - who could ask for more?

I would guess that if he had to go, it would be far preferable for him to go that way than any number of other possibilities. I don't think passing away peacefully in his sleep would be the first choice of The Crocodile Hunter, or even in his top ten for that matter.
 
It was a one and a million shot on the Stingrays part. If it had tagged him in the arm, leg, stomach, or maybe even face he would have lived.

Its to bad, he was a major supporter of wildlife.

He will be missed.
 
I read it yesterday too, and it was really a shock. Someone so positive, so idealistic, and so obviously passionate and happy with his work simply snuffed out by a freak accident - what kind of story is that? What will happen to his wife and the kids now, who will take over the zoo, and who will stand up now as an icon of Australlian wildlife preservation (and all-round funny guy)?

Steve Irwin had a great impact, not only in his home country. Even here in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, his TV programs had a great following among kids (despite horrendous translation). Children learned that even "nasty" creatures had character, feelings, and a right to live - and that even the most dangerous predator could cause fascination and fun. Steve dusted off the old crocodile=monster paradigma, and showed that the notion of wildlife and man/animal relationship is possible. Together with Teri he presented a very modern picture of a family, and even his controversial actions (like feeding a croc wihile cradling his infant son) were symbolic and bold steps to show that man's picture of the animal kingdom still is governed by lots of presumptions.

But that's life for you. It isn't a story, even a hero like Steve can trip over a stingray and get killed, just like that. Does that make the world an evil place? No. Does it destroy all his work? No.
It simply shows that things happen, and that we must live on and learn the right things. I'm sure there are people who'd say that Steve was asking for it, that animals are evil critters anyway and that the way he led his life was lacking responsibility.
What we should learn - more, what I will try to learn - is to understand that no matter what you do, you can't buy insurance against misfortune. You can't rack up enough brownie points to lead a secure and happy life, and you won't be struck by lighntning if you're f***ing things up.
Boldness, standing in for your values, living life the way you see fit is all you can do, and the reward for that is - in any system of belief - out of this world. Down here, you'll never know when the giant piano falls out of the sky, so better do what you want to achieve. Like Steve.

(If you're offended by the rant, tough luck. I respected the man, and as this is off-topic, I saw it fit to lose a few words for him.)
 
What's more disturbing is when in a few days the video of his death shows up online on youtube or something. They said it was filmed and I'm sure someone will leak it.

Steve was a good man who did things for the environment that couldn't have been done without his great attitude.
 
Australians mourns.....

Our prayers and thoughts are to the his wife and two children and wish them all the best.

One last Crikey for the man.
CRIKEY!!
 
What's more disturbing is when in a few days the video of his death shows up online on youtube or something. They said it was filmed and I'm sure someone will leak it.

He always insisted that they keep filming, nomatter what happened, even if he died, and it was in his will that that recording would be made public.
 
It's a shame. I didn't watch his show or anything regularly but I've seen bits of it here and there, he had a great personality and a love for the wildlife. He did a great job of making nature fun and exciting and not just the same boring educational way that kids feel they are being forced to watch. Undoubtedly he will be missed.
 
I'm worried that this will send the wrong message to people about stingrays -- CNN already has a nasty fact box about how dangerous they are (and that they're "close relatives of sharks"). That's not what Mr. Irwin would have wanted at all.

It's very, very sad all around, though -- he seemed like a top notch guy.

(Actually, the CIC gang and I were just petting stingrays in the touch pool at the Georgia Aquarium on Thursday -- they were so docile... they'd see you and come up and flap their wings out of the water until you rubbed their backs...)
 
Stingrays are not at all a very hostile species. They only attack if they feel threatened. Oh well, guess that's just the idiocy of the world there. :(
 
Well, it is not like the stingray is rational and responsible for its actions. For some reason or another, it reacted and Irwin got unlucky. Pity. He was a great guy. He died doing what he liked best, so it was kinda good way to go. Of course, it would have been better to die like in 60 years time.
 
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