OMG! CNN is saying that Steve Irwin is dead!

[Jens_Hoppe]

Reminds me of all too many mountaineers who've left families behind. Reminds me of Dan Osman, and that guy who loved the bears (no, not the football team), and then got eaten by them, although the latter didn't have any kids, as far as I can recall, just a girlfriend who got eaten along with him.

To me the main difference between these two cases is that the grizzly man seemed to be a bungling amateur with a distorted view of what wild animals were all about, who was lucky to stay alive as long as he did. In contrast Steve Irwin, even though a risk taker, was much more of a professional. Had he ended up being killed by a crocodile, I would have been very, very surprised.

His death sounds much more like a freak accident than as a consequence of any extreme risk-taking (how dangerous is diving in the Great Barrier Reef generally considered to be anyway?).

But I agree - he leaves behind two small kids, and that is by far the most tragic part of this affair.

[Joseph E. Smith]

His death sounds much more like a freak accident than as a consequence of any extreme risk-taking (how dangerous is diving in the Great Barrier Reef generally considered to be anyway?).

But I agree - he leaves behind two small kids, and that is by far the most tragic part of this affair.

There's lots of stuff within the GBR that'll get ya... but then, that's true of all the worlds oceans. It isn't our habitat, and anytime one dives, they take their life into their own hands. It's not like sharks and what have you prowl the dark alleys of New York, Munich or Melbourne.

But I am thinking this was more af a freak accident, I mean, a stingray nailing him in the chest? Not what I would call a common event.

I feel sad for his wife Terri and their children Bindy-Sue and Bob. This has to be a rough time for them and their extended family at Australia Zoo.

[fearfaoin]

It is a great loss, but I doubt anyone (himself included) expected his demise to come gently in his sleep, of old age.

No, but I always expected it to be something ironically non-animal-related,
like a motercycle accident, or Lou Gehrig's disease or something...

Stingray stingers can be a couple inches long, but to actually be impaled
on it, I wonder if he was jumping into the water, and the stingray was
surfaced with the stinger pointed up, or something. It would take a lot of
force.

[Loren]

His death sounds much more like a freak accident than as a consequence of any extreme risk-taking (how dangerous is diving in the Great Barrier Reef generally considered to be anyway?).

It is interesting how often "freak accidents" occur when one is doing dangerous stuff, isn't it?

From MSNBC:

"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."


I wouldn't call going out of your way to find, get in the water with, and then swim too close to, an animal considered one of the "Ocean's Deadliest" a freak accident......

Nor is having the thing attack you with it's poisonus defenses in the process.



Loren

[Loren]

No, but I always expected it to be something ironically non-animal-related,
like a motercycle accident, or Lou Gehrig's disease or something...

I wonder why it is? Does seeing a guy dodge a bullet enough times make it seem as though he's bullet proof? Sort of like the highwire walkers we never expect to fall. Or do we? I mean if we don't think they're going to eventually stumble, why do we watch? Curious.

Stingray stingers can be a couple inches long, but to actually be impaled
on it, I wonder if he was jumping into the water, and the stingray was
surfaced with the stinger pointed up, or something. It would take a lot of
force.

According to the MSNBC report, he simply swam too close.


Loren

[Joseph E. Smith]

Stingray stingers can be a couple inches long, but to actually be impaled
on it, I wonder if he was jumping into the water, and the stingray was
surfaced with the stinger pointed up, or something. It would take a lot of
force.

According to the MSNBC report, he simply swam too close.


Loren

According to another report from AOL, the ray that got him had a barb 10 inches long, and as Steve approached above the animal, it got startled, and stuck Steve. The barb peirced Steve's heart, which was ultimately the cause of death. A highly unusual occurence. People rarely die from ray stings. This was a one in a million freakish event that it got his heart. Unbelieveable.

[Loren]

Somehow I doubt that if a million people when to swim in that same area, only one would die. But again, regardless of the odds, the more you gamble, the greater your odds of eventually losing. As you said, these things aren't wandering around on the street.

Heres a video report on it, look for the launch button on the right. BTW, I had totally forgotten the bit about him taking his infant with him to feed the crocs. That really does seem wrong to me; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/



Regardless of any of that though, certainly he was a great wildlife ambassador.


Loren

[Wombat]

Stingrays don't usually attack but then people don't usually pursue them either and they can feel threatened by mere curiosity. If they decide to strike you haven't much chance although there have only been about 30 reported stingray deaths worldwide and many, many people get stung or otherwise have a close encounter.

He actually wasn't as universally loved in Australia as you might think. As an Australian of a certain kind he was beyond caricature and, frankly, many Aussies found him embarrassing. He was so obviously the out-of-control ocker that I quite liked him in something like the way you can't help liking an over excited dog. But I don't much like my country to be best known in other countries for its overgrown schoolboys and that is a widespread opinion. That said, his death in these unusual circumstances is very sad. But, like Loren, I've been expecting it. Australia is unforgiving of those who tempt fate the way he did.

[fearfaoin]

No, but I always expected it to be something ironically non-animal-related,
like a motercycle accident, or Lou Gehrig's disease or something...

I wonder why it is? Does seeing a guy dodge a bullet enough times make it seem as though he's bullet proof? Sort of like the highwire walkers we never expect to fall. Or do we? I mean if we don't think they're going to eventually stumble, why do we watch? Curious.

See: ironic i.e., everyone expects a guy to die from falling off
a tightrope, so instead he dies from autoerotic aesfixiation.
The perversity of the universe tends toward a maximum.

Stingray stingers can be a couple inches long, but to actually be impaled on it...

According to the MSNBC report, he simply swam too close.

According to another report from AOL, the ray that got him had a barb 10 inches long, and as Steve approached above the animal, it got startled, and stuck Steve. The barb peirced Steve's heart...

That's the part that gets me. I didn't know rays could use that much
force, or that their barbs could get that big. The ones I swam with
in the Virgin Islands were much smaller. Australia is a place of
craziness.

[Jack]

Uh, wow.

He sure went out in a style befitting of him.

Poor soul.

May he rest in peace!

[Joseph E. Smith]

According to the MSNBC report, he simply swam too close.

According to another report from AOL, the ray that got him had a barb 10 inches long, and as Steve approached above the animal, it got startled, and stuck Steve. The barb peirced Steve's heart...

That's the part that gets me. I didn't know rays could use that much
force, or that their barbs could get that big. The ones I swam with
in the Virgin Islands were much smaller. Australia is a place of
craziness.

The variety of stingray Steve was diving with are considerably larger, with considerably larger barbs. They are very strong, and though they tend to be placid, it isn't a good idea to frighten them or put them into a situation where they feel threatened or need to defend themselves. Apparently, this ray felt threatened.

A huge loss, regardless of what some may feel about tempting fate. Each time one gets into a car, or onto a plane or what have you, you are tempting fate. There have been way more deaths due to auto wrecks, than there have been while filming rays in the Great Barrier Reef.

[fearfaoin]

There have been way more deaths due to auto wrecks, than there have been while filming rays in the Great Barrier Reef.

And yet, I will be more afraid of diving in the GBR than driving in my
car. What fools we mortals be.

[TelegramSam]

A stingray? A stingray??

How the hell do you get stung in the chest by a stingray? Was he trying to give it a hug or something?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I figured that guy would be eaten by a giant python or bitten in half by a crocodile or something.

I feel sorry for his wife and children though.

[Joseph E. Smith]

There have been way more deaths due to auto wrecks, than there have been while filming rays in the Great Barrier Reef.

And yet, I will be more afraid of diving in the GBR than driving in my
car. What fools we mortals be.

As will I. When you give it some thought, when we enter the oceans, we are actually becoming the "special of the day" for its diners... you know, the land-food special.

[Tyler]

A stingray? A stingray??

Well, if it was going fast enough....