News confirmed: Steve Irwin (the Croc Hunter) Dead at 44

Toirtis

Toirtis

Keeper of strange fishes
May 30, 2006
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In a freak accident, Steve Irwin, best known as "The Crocodile Hunter" has died while filming an underwater dicumentary off the North coast of Australia. Irwin, 44, was tung in the chest by a stingray while on a dive.
 
Man what a way to go. I was always warned about the dangers of stingrays (I used to swim/snorkel alot) but I never actually believed they would kill someone. Pretty sad.
 
Wow, such a great loss. My roommate woke me up just to tell me. His poor wife and two children...

I can’t believe he’s gone! My friend has been swearing for years that it was just a matter of time before the guy got maimed or severely injured...but he never thought he'd die. So depressing. :(
 
He was probably swimming over the top of it.....using one of those masks you can talk with....explaining some interesting facts about stringrays...when the thing just reacted in self defense. They aren't generally aggressive, but if you swim too close they can getcha. Apparently his 8 year old daughter Bindy has her own documentary type show down there...he was doing the filming for that.

Going to miss that nut.......I figured one of these days he was going to get it from something, but I always thought it would be a croc ! :(
 
One of his fellow divers was talking on the news this morning, and he said that it was very likely this ray was irritated by a shark just moments before Irwin swam over, and the ray could not discern. One thing's for certain, he died doing what he loved and went down with honor.
 
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I remember the first time I saw Steve on Animal Planet a few years ago. The show was about crocodiles and I was truly amazed at what he was doing and his interaction with them. After that show, I became a Croc Hunter fan.

It's sad news about his death. I'm sure his humane work will continue on.

Here is a partial c/p of information about his death and how it happened. The full story is at he link provided below.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2391796

Partial c/p:

CAIRNS, Australia Sep 4, 2006 (AP)— Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter." First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.

He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.

"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!'"

Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."

"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."
Click to expand...


Respectively,

Doctor
 
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