Sad News: The Crocodile Hunter has died!

[J.4knee]

This is sad I am not surprised but saddened none the less he had a rare passion

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/

[m00n]

That is incredibly sad to hear. Very very sad. He will be missed. [][][:'(]

[sunburnwilly]

A stingray barb through the chest !!!

Very sad and I bet he never saw it comming .

RIP Steve Irwin

[wuzzzer]

Just saw that too. I can't believe he lived as long as he did. [W]

[colterphoto1]

A sad end to a terrific life. He will be missed. I suppose he died like he lived, on the edge.

M

[colterphoto1]

http://www.potamotrygon.de/fremdes/stingray%20article.htm

Apparently a pretty horribly way to die. Both massive physical damage from the barbed 'sting' itself, plus a host of very nasty venoms which cause intense pain while causing hemmorage in the area. The sting is strong enough to penetrate the chest wall, a blow to the trunk is always very serious business.

[Arky]

Good grief, I just read Michael's article. Scary little creatures indeed.

[Timmikid]

Brrrr... (shiver). Sad news indeed. Strange, horrific, yet graceful creatures. The sea must have been an even weirder place millions of years ago. Tim.

[oldbuckster]

CRICKEY.........That will be missed...One of the few unique characters on television today, good show, he made it fun to watch........Crazy bass-turd, but really seemed to Love what he did.........Steve will be sorely missed..........but never forgotten.........

[picky]

Just one definace too many, perhaps? It's a shame, especially for his widow and their two children. Life on the edge is usually risky. He was 44 and I think he amazed many people, including me, that he alluded death this long. The man had incrediable "stones". He also did many good deeds. Rest easy, mate.

[PhilMays]

Those guys are nasty! I was fishing on the Outer Banks of NC several years back and met a man who several years back caught a stingray and went to take him off the hook. He put his foot on him wearing rubber waders and the ray "barbed" him through the waders and this guy spent 6 months in the hospital and another 6 months in rehab.

Hate it for Steves lovely wife and daughter (not sure if they had more kids). I always thought he was lucky to be alive several years back.

Phil

[Daddy Dee]

Terrible loss.

Some irony here in that this was a freak incident. Divers routinely swim close to these creatures with no harm. On the occasions when a diver is barbed, it would rarely be fatal.

For all the times he was doing truly risky behavvior and pulled it off. Kind of like an Evel Knievel type who dies accidentally in some mundane way.

[jt1stcav]

It is truely sad, especially for his wife and children. But they all knew the risks involved with this type of work and I'm sure they all knew that someday something freakish like this could actually happen. I really feel sorry for their kids, especially their 3 year old son who'll never have the chance to get to know his father. But at least when he grows up he'll know the kind of man he was, and that despite the dangers, he really loved animals of all kinds and loved what he was doing.

[Jay481985]

Its a sad day. But the risks were apparent though I would have thought the crocodile hunter would be due in by a croc not a stingray. Actually I saw a beach fisherman three weeks ago catch one about 30 pounds and everyone got close until I said it has a poison barb please stand back as it whipped its tail. The fisherman and wife had no clue. The wife actually tried to pull the fishing line with her bare hands in which i told her sternly not to as the fish just after she let go had a jolt of power and the line went very taut. People should watch more nature and animal channel to realize the awesome and dangerous powers that the animal kingdom has.

[colterphoto1]

CAIRNS, Australia (Sept. 5) -- Steve Irwin was videotaped pulling a
poisonous stingray barb from his chest in his last moments of life,
officials said Tuesday, as tributes poured in for TV's "Crocodile
Hunter."

	Watch Video: Crocodile Hunter's Final Expedition | Has Television Gone Too Far? Talk About It: Post Thoughts | Deaths Rare: 'Bad Luck'

Police said there was nothing suspicious about Irwin's death and
no evidence he provoked the animal. Irwin, 44, was stabbed through
the heart on Monday while snorkeling with a stingray during filming
of a new TV program on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

John Stainton, Irwin's manager who was among the crew on the
reef, said the fatal blow was caught on videotape, and described
viewing the footage as having the "terrible" experience of
watching a friend die.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail
came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out
and the next minute he's gone," Stainton told reporters in Cairns,
where Irwin 's body was taken for an autopsy.

Queensland state police were holding the tape as evidence for a
coroner's inquiry - a standard procedure in high-profile deaths or
those caused by other than natural causes.

Experts have said the stingray may have felt trapped between the
cameraman and the TV star. Irwin, the popular host of "Crocodile
Hunter," rose to fame by getting dangerously close to crocodiles,
snakes and other beasts.

	About Stingrays

But Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said there
was no evidence Irwin threatened or intimidated the stingray, a
normally placid species that only deploys its poisonous tail spines
as a defense.

Stainton said Irwin was in his element in the Outback, but that
he and Irwin had talked about the sea posing threats the star
wasn't used to.

"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be
the ocean," Stainton said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking,
quick-moving and the ocean puts another element there that you have
no control over."

Parliament took a break from the business of running the country
to pay tribute to Irwin, whose body was being flown home Tuesday
from Cairns. No funeral plans were announced but state Premier
Peter Beattie said Irwin would be afforded a state funeral if his
family agreed.

Irwin's American wife Terri, 8-year-old daughter Bindi, and their son Bob, almost 3,
returned late Monday from a trekking vacation in Tasmania to
Australia Zoo, the wildlife park where the family lived at Beerwah
in Queensland's southeast.

At the park, hundreds of people filed past the entrance laying
floral bouquets and handwritten condolence messages. Khaki shirts -
a trademark of Irwin - were laid out for people to sign.

"Mate, you made the world a better place," read one poster
left at the gate. "Steve, our hero, our legend, our wildlife
warrior," read another. "I thought you were immortal. How I wish
that was true," said a third.

The park opened Tuesday because it was what Irwin would have
wanted, said Gail Gipp, an animal health employee.

Irwin was propelled to global fame after his TV shows, in which
he regularly wrestled with crocodiles and went face-to-face with
poisonous snakes and other wild animals, were shown around world on
the Discovery Channel.

[picky]

For all the times he was doing truly risky behavvior and pulled it off. Kind of like an Evel Knievel type who dies accidentally in some mundane way.

Yes, Dee, I know what you mean. Except in this case, Evel Knievel is still alive and doing TV Spots for "Mr. Roof", the home roofing specialists. Evel is just about to turn 68 next month. He suffered a stroke about a year ago, but is coming back and began doing the ads. They are very strange in that they associate his bike accidents with choosing the wrong roofer! Kinda dumb? Yep. But the guy's still alive.

[edwinr]

I heard the news this morning. Very sad.

[jacksonbart]

ouch!

[Amy]

My 2-year-old's favorite DVD is The Wiggles Crocodile Hunter featuring Steve Irwin. I must have watched it a hundred times. He will be missed.

[Cal Blacksmith]

Indeed sad. The good news is that it was quick. He will be missed.