Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter is dead

Is anyone surprised he died to one of the animals he spent his entire life pissing off?

Not at all.

It's sad for his family, but who DIDN'T see this coming (okay, maybe not a stingray sting, but the whole death-by-pissed-off-creature thing)?

I'm with the both of you. I'm not surprised that it eventually killed him. Nobody can really be Crocodile Dundee, after all . . .

I'm not surprised...but hey, at least he died doing what he loved. That doesn't happen often. I admired the guy, personally...he had some real balls to do half that stuff. My job may lead me to do a lot of what he did...if everything works out for me...it may seem stupid, but I'd love to do it.

~Zoo

Yeah don't get me wrong - I do feel sorry for his family. But it's gotta be the way he wanted to go. How many people have you heard of who died from a stab wound to the heart from a stingray of all things?

Just don't hold your baby while you feed raw chicken to a crock.   

Just don't hold your baby while you feed raw chicken to a crock.

He did that? Crazy bloke, man, crazy bloke.   

according to a bangkok post online report: "Steve Irwin died Monday after being speared in the heart by the barb of a stingray while he was shooting a marine documentary off Cairns..."

i'll make no claim to dasyatid expertise. still, the only way i can imagine this happening would involve irwin effectively stabbing himself with the ray's spine. it aint as if they commonly (if ever) fly backwards in order to impale predators or idiots.

Just don't hold your baby while you feed raw chicken to a crock

stingroys oyte me baoy-bee

I thought that stingray gave off some kind of electric or chemical charge that stunned the prey. But I dunno either

stingroys oyte me baoy-bee

  Nice.

It was a Sting!

The crocs that couldn't get him paid this Ray mega sand dollars to get the guy they couldn't take out themselves!! ;~D



As for the "poetic justice", no more than the guy who drives for a living, and ends up dying in an accident. We all flirt with death daily...none of us have an excuse for actually surviving the day. So have a Day on Labor Day and hope you're still around to return to work the next. :~D

i'll make no claim to dasyatid expertise. still, the only way i can imagine this happening would involve irwin effectively stabbing himself with the ray's spine. it aint as if they commonly (if ever) fly backwards in order to impale predators or idiots.

They had a tv special on today. Apparently stingrays can use their tails in a similar way to scorpions, and they reckon that's what happened - he was filming near the sea bottom and disturbed a ray, making it do the scorpion thing and stab him through the heart.

A couple of prawn trawlermen have apparently been killed in that way. So not really that unique a death.

stingroys oyte me baoy-bee

It took me a few secs to figure out that was s'posed to be strine. Heh. It nearly doesn't work in print.

This guy was a great ambassador.

He spent his life dedicated to animals and their conservation.

A man of great passion. It's sad to see him go so tragically.

I am surprised by amount of disparaging remarks about this man.

He was a man who took risks yes, that was his trademark, that and his zesty enthusiasm for the animals and other creepy crawlies.

He had an enthusiasm that literally bubbled out of every pore of his body. An enthusiasm that got your attention when you watched one of his programs.


This man took risks, and he did know exactly what he was doing most of the time if not all of the time. Those risks always came with warnings to his audience.

Personally I think his death is a great loss to education and documentary television.

I salute you Steve Irwin

Is anyone surprised he died to one of the animals he spent his entire life pissing off? It's almost poetic justice.

Maybe those cold-blooded croc's are sitting around the watering hole saying, "Served him right," but, bipedal mammal that I am, I'm more inclined to classify it as a "tragic flaw."

Ungrateful croc's -- after all that he's done for them....

Seriously can't you wait a day?

There's reports saying that Bindi wasn't in Tassie with Terri and that she was actually with Steve on the shoot.
Bindi is 8 years old.

This was sad news. I don't think it was poetic justice, I think it was a tragedy. My boys loved watching him and so did I. I don't think he was out pissing animals off. I think he loved all of the animals especially the ones that so many people are afraid of and would kill out of fear. Many of the animals that he was capturing, he was capturing to save them from being killed not to hurt them or piss them off.

It was a very freak thing to happend. From what I understand the shock or poison of the sting going into his heart caused a heart attack.

Prayers to his family. May he rest in peace.

I have to admit, I didn't watch his show much, but Jennifer and Locamama hit it on the head. He had such enthusiasm for what he did that you can't help but admire him. It's a real loss to the animal lovers of the world. And it sucks that he went at such a young age - I'm sure he would've rather gone in a way like that, but not with such a young family. If only this had happened in this eightieth year . . .

Well said Jennifer 1. I salute him too.

Well said Jennifer 1. I salute him too.

Well said Jennifer 1. I salute him too.

I, too, am extremely sad at the amount of disparaging remarks here about Steve Irwin. He was a very charismatic wildlife enthusiast whose only goal was to raise awareness and promote the preservation of the animals he so passionately loved. I've been around a lot of wild animals in my life, and I saw absolutely nothing inappropriate to the animals in his shows or in footage at the zoos and parks. Granted, he thumbed his nose at fate a lot more than he should have, but I learned more about crocodiles and snakes from watching to see if he would get bitten. And that was his whole point.
His very passion made him a larger than life personality and the conservation efforts have lost a unique spokesperson this day. To belittle his efforts, particularly at this point, sound petty and churlish. He was quoted as saying, "If something ever happens to me, people are gonna be like 'we knew a croc would get him!'"

He was swimming above the stingray and the barb came up from below him. It went under his ribcage and pierced his heart directly. A true freak accident, but he died doing what he loved to do.

I hope that when I die, people don't swarm to blogs the day of, and make such belittling comments about me.

Cacto, after reading the comments, my comment is somewhat muted.  As I understand now, the vein in which you wrote the article.

But Quite simply, even in retrospect, I find it very harsh, and not in any way compassionate.

Sorry, a man's death, that was simply trying to educate people about our animal world, is not poetic justice.  It is sad at the least, and a tragedy at the worst.

I don't see the point in taking death seriously. It'll only consume you if you do that. So why not take the piss? People are going to be doing it in six months. I don't see why I can't do it now.

Sorry, a man's death, that was simply trying to educate people about our animal world, is not poetic justice. It is sad at the least, and a tragedy at the worst.

All tragedy is amusing. As some famous and probably dead comedian said, "me falling over is a tragedy. An old lady in a wheelchair falling down the stairs... that's comedy gold."

I think you're the man, cacto.

What makes Steve Irwin untouchable? Fuck, don't you think HE would appreciate the joke?