So Steve Irwin finally kicked the bucket. Wasn't killed by a crocodile, or a snake, or a shark. Nope. STING RAY. Steve Irwin got killed by a ducking swimming pancake. That's... Just Not Right. That's embarassing. He's the friggin' Chuck Norris of nature show hosts, he should've been killed by something cooler. D: Like a Saltwater Crocodile, or a King Cobra, or an Anaconda, or a Great White Shark... but a STING RAY.

Oh well. I'll miss ya, Steve-O.

Cerberus messaged me over AIM, telling me this. So did Blade actually... but Cerb said your post was funny Steve, so I just had to come back and see it.

Irony... lol. So young too...

Tragic, but you have to admit 2 things.
1. He died doing what he loved.
2. It was bound to happen, always around wild animals, crap happens :/

I hate stingrays now :angry: . *eats a sinker*. Tastes like shark. A plastic shark. Mm.

HAHA, My Internet got cut off, but Iv got my sises computer..

YEA, I just herd about it a few minutes ago, and searched it up..Then I came here to post a topic, but what better person post it than Steve himself, lol..

But that sish still sucks..I actually liked that guy, and only watched animal planet for his shows..Too bad..The good die young...

I agree with Steve, he should have died with something bigger. But I read about it and the sting ray peirced his heart. Its real sad. And I didnt even watch the guys show!

True. He will always be in my memory though. I loved watching his show in the morning when i was younger. I wonder if AP is going to cancel his show now that he's dead? I hope not.

It's funny, in that it shouldn't be shocking news, yet it is. And such a shame with his family still being so young...

...

I just have to say the "he should've been killed by something bigger" thing bothers me. >_<* He's dead, let him be. "Embarrassing" or not, as HaTcH said he died doing something he loved. He knew the dangers, but that never stopped him, and that's truly admirable.

Also, I'm sure Irwin would not approve of people hating on sting rays now just because one killed him. XD Especially since that was part of what he stood for: to get people to see animals, even the ones they feared, as something beautiful.

I'm sure they'll keep showing reruns of his show. Death never stops reruns. XD

*Ahem*

He should have died due to something cooler???

Ok, well, its nice to know you guys think more his death a bit of amusement, than something of a tragedy.

He shouldn't have died at all, but accidents happen, and it just so happened, the Sting Rays spine managed to puncture (not hard to do) the rib cage, and thus penatrate the heart.

It seems fitting however, given all the work he has done with crocodiles, snakes and large predatory animals, one would say he is too experienced to screw up so easily, where as, marine animals he is not so experienced with, thus making this mishap understandable.

Its extremely rare for a person to die from any injury inflicted by a ray, however not many people swim face to face with them, and grab them, and do all manners of annoying things to them to try and film and document them.

Its sad that he died, he really was going good in helping keep certain species thriving, but all good things must come to an end.

I'll miss his show, and the messages he brought people about the good things from the animals most of us fear.

R.I.P. Steve Irwin

Its such a shame that people would actually think: "Oh, he should have been killed by this and that". Absolutely disappointing that people would think that way when he did something that he loved and he knew the risks behind it even though he's a professional - in my opinion, his passion outweighs the sad black 'hiliarity' of being stung by a stingray. Pretty insensitive things to say but making it a humourous matter is very disrepectful for the Irwin family, his friends and relatives - let alone Steve Irwin himself.

Maybe next time when I see any thread concerning with a tragic death of any member here - I'll make it a laughing matter instead. Let's see how you'll all feel to those who made/thought it to be 'lol' material.

Maggots, REPENT!


Anyway, I hate to see such an iconic figure to go with such a young family left behind. Such tragedy. I give him props for teaching future generations the importance of conservation of our precious wildlife. His death makes him legendary in the animal world of all kinds - his death is tragic but yet so admirable.

Still, stingrays are usually docile marine animals. Kinda makes you wonder how the hell did he provoke it without going into his usual assumptions concerning his foolhardy approach as an animalist.

Different people cope with death in different ways, Hetman. Never said I didn't respect the guy, nor am I "lol"ing at his death.

On the contrary, I have a ton of respect and admiration for what the guy's done to raise awareness for conservation, I stood up for him during the "Baby Bob" incident and I'm one of the few people who actually *liked* the Croc Hunter movie. I've been a big fan of the show ever since its debut in 1996- I grew up watching the croc hunter.

As for how he provoked the ray... apparantly he swum over it and the cameraman nearby made the critter feel cornered. Cue stingray stabbing him in the chest, and instant death.

Indeed. You never said it but hmmm... you have implied it in your introductionary post. Seemly, you didn't gave any consideration to the greiving and mourning family, friends and relatives and as for respect... what respect? There is no respect hinted in your first post. Great justification there, mate. If you do have a 'ton of respect and admiration' for him, you could have been at least more considerate (and expanded right how much you respected and admired the guy afterwards instead of an half-arsed 'oh well'. Its great that you tried to lighten up the atmosphere, but you can provoke others in the process. Think about others, okay?) because your first post does not suggest any elements of that. Haha, your the one at fault!

Perhaps I seem to be 'too serious', but I'm not the only one who has their friends die unexpectedly (even though his foolhardy approach to wildlife might get himself killed one day but I didn't expect for him to die leaving his young children behind).

But let's leave that aside. =D

This morning on the radio-- I hear he was barbed on the chest and died of cardiac arrest which the stingray's venom is famous for. Confirmed by police; a rescue helicopter tried to treat and save him but he died before the helicopter came.

Hmm... it seems to be reported before details emerged.

Edit: ABC's news radio article on Steve Irwin's death. This is where I first heard of the actual coverage in the morning. Wikipedia says he got punctured in the heart but its sourced from the Sun Herald... hmmm.

M'kay, consider the matter dropped. Debating further will only lead to ugliness anyway.

I've heard plenty of conflicting reports on the details, but the story's more or less the same. Rumour has it there's a video of the event floating around the internet but I have yet to see it myself.

Poor guy, think of how his family felt when they found out. Wake up in the morning and your son/husband/father is dead. He was a good guy, donated lots of money to conservation.

When I first heard this I thought it was Crocodile Dundee that died, I dont know why.

I hope there's no such video, that would be terrible. I can't see anyone releasing something like that, it would be disrespectful. So I HOPE that's just a false rumor. DX

And yeah, it's terrible that he died with his family still being so young. Poor Bob will have to know him through his show... it's just a shame. I'm always impressed by celebrity families that stay together, so it really saddens me when one of those families is torn apart like this.

But such is life.

*UPDATE-ish*

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060905/people...lia_irwin_dc_12

I had an interesting though about this, and it may throw some people off, but it is just a thought.

Does anyone remember when Princess Diana died? Remember how the whole world mourned the loss (even people in the US who don't really know her)? That was because she represented the death of an architype. That of 'The Princess'.

So I was just putting some thoughts together that perhaps the reason why everyone is saddend by the loss of Irwin is because he represented an architype, possibly that of 'The Adventurer' or something similar.

I took it a step further, and realised that it happened once again, a few years ago. Remeber Dale Earndhart? Dude.. hes a freakin race car driver, yet again, everyone went wild when he died. This architype stuff is deep, but I think he may have been one too.

Maybe but pretty much EVERYONE knows the Crocodile Hunter, whether they liked him or hated him.

I totally didn't even know about Dale Earnhardt, but I'm not a racing fan in the slightest. >_> (Of course I missed a lot of stuff while I was in college with no TV stations worth watching.)

So, maybe there's a bit of that archetype thing, but I think it's something more too.

Also, in case nobody saw it, that article I posted said that the footage of Irwin getting stabbed will probably never be released.

He's just one of those people who was just there... It's really sad...

It actually creeps me out to see him on TV though... XD;;;

Still, I feel so sorry for his wife and kids... D=

Not entirely accurate, Steve. The general details on why the ray attacked are correct, but it was far from instant death. Depending on the damage done to the heart, it's possible to survive for a time with a heart injury. Irwin actually made a very big mistake that may or may not've killed him.

Yes, you read that right. It may've been his own fault. Reports say that Irwin pulled the barb out himself after being stabbed. Now, these are barbs. As you can imagine, they're designed to grab and not let go. The worst thing you can do with any puncture wound is to remove whatever punctured you in the first place. The item, as long as it is kept relatively in place, will actually help you survive longer by helping to slow the blood flow. Pulling a barb is far worse. While a typical puncturing item (like a nail) will not cause much further damage upon removal (unless someone is really stupid about it), a barb is designed to not be pulled out. Eventually, they will work themselves out, but just pulling and yanking them is going to bring more flesh with them, thereby aggravating your condition.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to disrespect the man at all. I believe he was a great man, and someone from which a person could learn much. But I'd like to keep the facts straight, and if through his death I can teach someone something that might save them later (I know a lot of people's first thoughts is to remove something from another's body), then all the better, and I think he'd be thankful for it.

Except for the fact that the barb was poisonous, so it probably didn't matter either way. DX

*edit after internet research*

You'd think they'd have better statistics if only 17 fatal stingray stings have been recorded worldwide.

Though on wikipedia it says it's more the nature of the injury than the venom that kills in a sting to the heart, it says only one person has survived such a sting. Makes me wonder how many other people have been stung in the heart. DX

Either way, an injury like that to the torso is very traumatic. x_x

Ahh, something from a diving site:

"If this occurs wash the wound in fresh water and apply as much heat to the area as possible. This will help to break down the toxins and relieve some of the pain. Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Stingray barbs often break up upon entry and the wound may need to be cut open and cleaned to avoid infection."

Bwah, there's so much that's probably debatable, but it's not really going to do any good, I guess.

I just herd that the people who loved Steve so much had declared war on the sting rays, Killing hundreds of em..My sis told me so..She said she saw it on the news...


Well..What else iz new?.... <_<

This?

Irwin fans 'in revenge attacks'
Last Updated: Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 10:35 GMT 11:35 UK

Dead stingrays with their tails cut off have been found in Australia, sparking concern that fans of naturalist Steve Irwin may be avenging his death.

Mr Irwin, a TV personality known as the "Crocodile Hunter", was killed while diving in Queensland when a stingray's barb stabbed him in the chest. Since then, 10 stingrays have been found mutilated on Queensland beaches. Government officials said they were investigating the deaths and there could be prosecutions.

Two stingrays were found at a beach north of Brisbane with their tails cut off, while eight were found on another beach on Monday, The Australian reported. Wayne Sumpton of the state fisheries department said it was not clear if the incidents were connected to Mr Irwin's death.

He said fishermen who inadvertently caught stingrays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but such a practice was uncommon.

'Protect wildlife'

Michael Hornby, a friend of the late naturalist and executive director of Mr Irwin's Wildlife Warrior fund, condemned any revenge killings.

"We just want to make it very clear that we will not accept and not stand for anyone who's taken a form of retribution. That's the last thing Steve would want," he said.

"I hope everyone understands we have to protect wildlife now more than ever. This is what Steve was all about."

Stingrays are normally placid, but when they feel under threat, a sharp, poisonous spine in their tail flicks up.

A public memorial service for Mr Irwin will be held next week.

Original source: BBC News

Argh, I hope people aren't doing that, that's horrible. x_x And I completely agree that Irwin would not approve of such a thing. Ugh.