I will always appreciate his uniquiness. I forever wondered... "how the heck did he get away with some of the things he did," although always have I been amazed/fixated.

He is one of those people... nobody can ever replace, whether they wanted to try or not.

What a fantastic human being. I'm pretty sure Steve would see the irony and enjoy a good giggle at his own silly demise. I'd bet he was poking and prodding that thing, 100ft down with just his safari suit on, and it won't be long before the footage turns up somewhere in the darker corners of the net. I found out when I saw the headline of my paper this morning' CROC HUNTER KILLED BY FISH'. I thought he'd dived into a tank of pirhanas. I'll miss the mad bastard, he had the spark.

Croc Hunter's stingray death caught on filmBy Ian Gerard and Tony Koch
September 05, 2006 01:00am
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FOOTAGE of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin being fatally gored by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef has been handed to Queensland police as fans worldwide come to grips with the "freak" death.

Irwin, 44, was killed almost instantly when the stingray stabbed him in the heart with its poisonous 20cm barb as he snorkelled off Port Douglas, in north Queensland, yesterday morning.

His American-born wife, Terri, was trekking in Tasmania's Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair National Park when the news broke of her husband's death and was last night being raced back to Queensland with her two children Bindi, 8, and Bob, 2.

"The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it," said boatowner Peter West, who viewed the footage afterwards.

"There was no blood in the water, it was not that obvious ... something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."

Irwin was shooting a documentary on dangerous marine life, in shallow water at Bat Reef, about 32 nautical-miles offshore, about 11am (AEST).

Tributes poured in from around world for Irwin, a renowned environmentalist who was estimated to be earning more than $4 million a year from his Queensland reptile park, Australia Zoo.

Footage of the attack shows Irwin swimming above a 2.5m stingray before it turns on him and sends a poisonous barb through his heart.

Irwin was pulled from the water by a cameraman and a crewman, put on an inflatable tender and taken to a support boat about 500m away.

Crewmembers said he was barely conscious in the minutes after the sting, but died as his production team rushed him to his vessel, Croc One, and to a nearby island for emergency treatment.

A charter dive boat crew desperately tried to revive him on the beach, but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards by Queensland Rescue Service officers, who had flown to the area by helicopter.

Irwin's body was last night flown to Cairns for a post-mortem as police seized all available evidence and interviewed witnesses in order to prepare a report for the Coroner.

A coronial inquest is expected.

Producer, director and life-long friend John Stainton yesterday said Irwin did not provoke the stingray and was simply swimming above it when he was attacked.

"He came over the top of a stingray and the stingray barb went up and into his chest and into his heart," producer Stainton said.

"It's likely that he possibly died instantly when the barb hit him and I hope he felt no pain."

One of Irwin's contemporaries, internationally known cameraman and spearfisherman Ben Cropp, was in his own boat off Port Douglas when Irwin was killed.

"I have just spoken to a cameraman friend who was there and has seen the footage," Mr Cropp told The Australian last night.

"He was up in the shallow water, probably 1.5m to 2m deep, following a bull ray which was about a metre across the body - probably weighing about 100kg, and it had quite a large spine. The cameraman was filming in the water."

Mr Cropp said the stingray was spooked and went into defensive mood.

"It probably felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead, and it felt there was danger and it baulked.

"It stopped and went into a defensive mode and swung its tail with the spike.

"Steve unfortunately was in a bad position and copped it.

"I have had that happen to me, and I can visualise it - when a ray goes into defensive, you get out of the way.

"Steve was so close he could not get away, so if you can imagine it - being right beside the ray and it swinging its spine upwards from underneath Steve - and it hit him.

"I have seen that sort of reaction with rays - with their tail breaking the water, such is the force."

Internationally renowned jellyfish sting expert Jamie Seymour was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Irwin had decided yesterday morning to shoot a segment of film on stingrays for a new television program that will be hosted by his daughter Bindi.

Surf Lifesavers national marine stinger adviser Lisa-Ann Gershwin said there had only been 17 fatal stingray attacks worldwide. "I think it's just an extraordinary freak accident that has happened to his heart," she said.

"A lot of people will be afraid by this, but they need to keep in mind that this was a freak accident, it was a terrible tragedy but it is not common."

Dr Gershwin said stingray stings to the legs or arms were common and, while painful, were not normally considered dangerous. She said there were many different types of stingrays, with barbs on their tails up to 30cm long, and they poisoned victims with a range of toxins.

Mr West said the barb was like a "very rough knife" and while fatal stingray stings had been known to occur, filming and swimming alongside the animal was commonplace among marine filmmakers.

Mr Cropp said he was told that the strike was "close to the heart and Steve had a cardiac arrest".

"At first they treated him as being wounded, but he didn't survive unfortunately," he said.

"The second boat in attendance raced in to give assistance and they radioed for help.

"They went into Low Isle and met the chopper which took Steve's body out."

In September 2004, Mr Cropp was attacked by a tiger shark on Bott Reef. "The rays in Australia and particularly in the north are not like those on the Cayman Islands, which are very quiet and allow people to ride on their backs," he said.

"At this time of the year they are on the lookout for tiger sharks and are very frisky.

"They are not aggressive. In fact they are very timid, but they defend themselves by throwing their tail spine upwards, and there is a spike on the tip about 20cm long which they can use like a dagger."

http://www.news.com.au/st...-2,00.html

luv4u said:[quote]Croc Hunter's stingray death caught on filmBy Ian Gerard and Tony Koch
September 05, 2006 01:00am
Article from: Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
FOOTAGE of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin being fatally gored by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef has been handed to Queensland police as fans worldwide come to grips with the "freak" death.

Irwin, 44, was killed almost instantly when the stingray stabbed him in the heart with its poisonous 20cm barb as he snorkelled off Port Douglas, in north Queensland, yesterday morning.

Maybe I'm weird but why do I want to watch this video really badly?

karmatornado said:[quote]

luv4u said:

It's called Morbid Fascination. We're fascinated by our own mortality. I just went looking for it.

I was reading another article. Someone vandalized the wikipedia page

http://www.news.com.au/0,,,00.html

I hope I meet my maker doing what I love.

RIP

This is such a loss...he had a love and passion for the world that will never be matched. I wish the best for his family and hope they will continue his work.

luv4u said:

I looked at the Link but don't see what you are talking about????

myownprivateinsanity said:

Here's the link. Wikipedia put a on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/w...teve_Irwin

luv4u said:

Thanks.

OMG...I was just pretending to be him last night at a house party. I get up today and see this...I feel bad for making fun of him.

DJ506 said:

It's always the case.

http://www.news.com.au/st...-2,00.html
Bindi's touching tribute
IT was the best Father's Day present Steve Irwin could have asked for - a moving tribute from his eight-year-old daughter telling the world how she loved him "very, very much".

In Irwin's last magazine interview, Bindi told the September edition of marie claire in it's Father's Day special just how much her dad meant to her.

"I love that he's funny, he's entertaining and he's always there when I need him most," she said.

"I'm proud to have a dad like that, who takes on conservation issues around the world.

"I love him very, very much."

For Irwin, the rare father-daughter interview and photo was so treasured he requested all photos from the shoot be sent to him - a series Bindi will now treasure forever.

While Irwin had knocked back previous interview requests, he agreed to the shoot as it was "something he and Bindi could do together," a spokeswoman for the magazine said.

In the interview he said his daughter had inherited his love of animals: "The most important thing in Bindi's life is that she's grown up in a zoo. Bindi's passionate about animals, but she's also into singing, dancing and dress-ups, like any other little girl.

"I'd do anything to spend time with my daughter."

-----

Steve will be so missed fair well dear teacher thanku for the education and the laughter u shared. My prayers go 2 his family & friends



.
[Edited 9/4/06 15:28pm]

I couldn't believe this when I heard about it this morning.

GaryTheNoTrashCougar said:

bad taste

PurpleJedi said:

[Bad taste snip - luv4u]

Hey! He's totally entitled to that opinion and his option to voice it.

I didn't think that before, but now he's said it I see where he's coming from, and I agree. He did exploit animals.

[That's in bad taste snip - luv4u]

Spookymuffin said:

[That's in bad taste snip - luv4u]

Spookymuffin said:

...in a positive manner. Get people excited about nature, so that less youngsters grow up wanting to shoot animals and hang their stuffed heads above the fireplace.



...no you didn't!!!

You people with your negative comments and jokes are sickening me
He was a nice , caring man and he did good things for wildlife

Dewrede said:

He was a clowm, if he really wanted to promote wildlife, he should have taken a leaf out of Les Hiddins' book

BUSH TUCKER MAN!

Don't know him

You may feel that way but i think making jokes is uncalled for

:

It's bound to happen

He was a great man, we're celebrating his life through humour.

Dewrede said:

Got to agree with you.

I think it's unfortunat that there are a few orgers here that continually make bad taste comments here.

Nice to know

When I heard about his death, the very first thing I thought about was his daughter. They have a 4 page special about Steve in todays paper and here's one of the stories.

'I love my daddy' - Bindy
By Fiona Connolly

September 05, 2006 12:00



It was the best Father's Day present Steve Irwin could have asked for – a moving tribute from his eight-year-old daughter telling the world how she loved him "very, very much."


In Irwin's last magazine interview, Bindi told the September edition of marie claire in it's Father's Day special just how much her dad meant to her: "I love that he's funny, he's entertaining and he's always there when I need him most.

"I'm proud to have a dad like that, who takes on conservation issues around the world.

"I love him very, very much."

For Irwin, the rare father-daughter interview and photo was so treasured he requested all photos from the shoot be sent to him – a series Bindi will now treasure forever.

While Irwin had knocked back previous interview requests, he agreed to the shoot as it was "something he and Bindi could do together," a spokeswoman for the magazine said.

In the interview he said his daughter had inherited his love of animals: "The most important thing in Bindi's life is that she's grown up in a zoo. Bindi's passionate about animals, but she's also into singing, dancing and dress-ups, like any other little girl.

"I'd do anything to spend time with my daughter."

I wish his family stenght
[Edited 9/4/06 16:32pm]

Dewrede said:

I visited Steve Irwins Zoo and was kind of amused at the number of dolls and other paraphernalia made almost entirely of non environmentaly friendly plastic.
Dolls of Steve, his wife, even his children..
Education or exploitation? Depends on how 1 looks at it i guess...



Here's something of interest, transcript of Steve Irwins appearance on Andrew Denton's 'Enough Rope'..

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/...960998.htm