"Croc Hunter" killed in underwater accident

[HeavenShallBurn]

According to what I've heard, which may not be entirely reliable.
1.) The stingray he surprised was very large, the stinger recovered from him was "the size of a fighting knife or a K-bar"
2.) The barb struck him right in the center of the chest and pierced the most vital of organs, the heart.

So I can only figure poison had little to nothing to do with it, basically he got the equivalent of a big person shoving a fighting knife through his heart a non-survivable situation.

Regardless

The inevitable bad jokes I'm sure we all made aside I think we all knew this sort of things would happen eventually. Irwin was skilled he knew the risks he took and I don't doubt he knew it would happen someday. He had his detractors, not everybody liked his style, but despite what a lot of people thought about his being a bit over-the-top and his risk-taking he did a good job of conveying his message about the natural world and its creatures to a new generation. While he may not have been my cup of tea he was a good person who lived his life well. Condolences to his family and his presence in popularizing the naturalist community and its work will be missed.

 

[Elf Witch]

My son said about his death something I found very wise. He said that while he felt very sad for Steve Irwin's family he did not feel that sad for Steve because in his opinion it is better to die at 44 doing what you love after a short life filled with doing what you love than to live a long boring life. full of regrets.

I can agree with this that while I wish he had a longer life at least he lived his life and up into the very last moment he lived doing what he loved most.

I think that is the best any of can hope for.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Hmmm... I just realized something...

Steve Irwin's death was MURDER!

In Los Angeles, there is a park which has a crocodile living in its lake, the crocodile's name is reggie. During the last two years crocodile hunters from around the world visited the lake and failed to capturing him. Steve Irwin WAS going to come down to capture him this fall.

I think that Reggie the crocodile hired a trained Sting Ray assassin to kill Steve before he could come to LA. It makes sense since last month all the traps and special gear Steve would have needed to capture Reggie arrived and we the city was waiting for Reggie to wake up from its hibernation (Reggie is an Aussie croc). What's strange is that Reggie haven't been seen since Steve Irwin announced he was going to come down to hunt him, but I swore I heard a news report mentioning that Reggie being spotted today...

 

[Ghostwind]

Regardless of one's own personal feelings about Steve Irwin and his vibrant personality and style, no one can deny the amount of attention that he was able to generate on world wildlife conservation and awareness. He was a passionate and very dynamic person who not only loved what he did but loved sharing it with others. In today's world, that is a rare and admirable quality.

In his short lifespan, Steve Irwin did more for wildlife conservation and bringing it right into your primetime TV and living room than any other person has since the likes of Jacques Cousteau and Marlin Perkins. That is a phenomenal accomplishment, especially in this day and age. His loss has created a void that won't be filled for some time to come.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

He was a passionate and very dynamic person who not only loved what he did but loved sharing it with others.

In the end, I think this is why he took his child with him into the croc pen. He's a father doing what he loves, and he wanted to share that love with his child. Like any other man with a passion, he wanted to sow that passion in his children.

I don't think what he did was any more dangerous than a lot of things folks do in this world. He felt that so long as you respect the natural world, it holds minimal danger, and despite my continual shock, he proved his point time and again by handling lethal creatures without incident.

His death was similar to a pilot's death when a bird flies into his plane's turbine. Yes, it was linked to what he did. Naturally he wouldn't have been in a position to be stung by a stingray if he hadn't been underwater engaging the natural world as he was wont to do. But it wasn't because of what he did. It was an accident of the environment. And it certainly doesn't prove that his actions are any more dangerous as a result.

I say "more dangerous" because Steve never pretended that nature was completely safe. Having watched some of his shows in the past, he was always adamant that incidents could and did happen. One of his shows focused on a croc accident where one of his co-handlers gets bitten in the midsection by a huge croc. It was a startling piece of film. So Steve was certainly not trying to hide the dangers inherent in interacting with wild animals, nor was he crazy enough to believe that danger didn't exist.

He knew the dangers. He knew how to best reduce those dangers. And he felt that what risk there was was worth it for the chance to engage the natural world.

RIP Steve. Like Elf Witch's son said, you lived a life doing what you loved.

 

[Arnwyn]

Stingray poison isn't lethal, just incredibly painful- Steve is probably only the 4th person in recorded history to die from a Stingray's sting...

The fact that it was a large Stingray (with a larger stinger than usual) and that it hit directly hit his heart with the poison- in game terms, a weak poison + crit with biggish weapon + shock- is probably what did it.

From all the news reports I heard, it was just the stab in the heart that killed him - the poison had nothing to do with it.

A complete and total freak accident.

 

[Driddle]

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3048709#post3048709
I don't believe he's dead.

 

[Umbran]

In the end, I think this is why he took his child with him into the croc pen. He's a father doing what he loves, and he wanted to share that love with his child. Like any other man with a passion, he wanted to sow that passion in his children.

The child in question was one month old at the time. Given his grasp of biology, I doubt Mr. Irwin was under any misconception that he was showing his child anything the kid could comprehend. However, he clearly was under the gave misconception that the public would accept his judgement on the risk and appropriateness of the action.

It isn't as if anyone is perfect. He made an error, as do we all. He still deserves respect for the good he did do.

 

[Mark CMG]

Crikey! Died doing what he loved, albeit, far too soon. Condolences to his friends and family.

 

[Banshee16]

On one of the morning show (The Today Show, I think), one of the hosts talked about the incident where he took his baby in with the crocs. He said that this event shouldn't overshadow his life, and then they showed a clip of Irwin defending his actions. He came off as a weirdo, saying that "everyone is an expert" (like it takes an expert to know that you shouldn't take your kid into a crocodile pit) and trying to say that living by a busy road is actually more dangerous.

I'm not trying to beat up on the guy now that he's dead, but this sort of proves his critics right. Wild animals are dangerous and unpredictable. Irwin was a professional who supposedly knew what he was doing and he was killed. He's lucky his kid wasn't killed years ago.

Most of the critics likely *don't* know what they're talking about. The fact that Steve went so long, and did so many crazy things without being killed before now means he was either extremely lucky, or maybe had an inkling as to what he was doing.

Far too many armchair quarterbacks on the new and talk shows.

I'm not surprised to hear it happened. Eventually he was going to roll a critical fumble. I just didn't expect it to a be a stingray that killed him. Maybe a bear or wildcat or something.

He has some pretty young children....it's really too bad. I'm sure he would have made a really interesting father to his kids. Sure wouldn't have been boring

Banshee