I don’t know if any of you are fans of the “Crocodile Hunter” TV shows on Animal Planet, but CNN just posted a news flash saying Steve Irwin has died in a marine accident. No details as yet.
I’ve enjoyed his show for years…it’s almost like losing a friend!
Redwolf
Wow
I can’t quite fathom it. How in heaven’s name do you get stung by a stingray through the chest?
I’ve enjoyed his compassionate (and passionate!) defense of wildlife for a long time…it’s hard to believe he’s gone.
Redwolf
Shocking news. So sad for his wife and two beautiful young children. The guy was a real Aussie character but behind it all had a genuine concern for the fate of wildlife around the world. I anticipate a national day of mourning in Australia. He’s a national hero there.
That’s very sad! He was so interesting.
Coincidentally, I was just in the kitchen fixing a snack when I thought of him. How weird is that?
Plays a lament
He will be missed.
My heart goes out to his family…especially his daughter Bindi, who has been a total “Daddy’s girl” virtually from her birth in 1998.
Redwolf
How tragic…he was one of the good guys…very sad news indeed…
I am devastated. Wow. Stingray? And here I always thought “a croc would get him…” at least, those were his words. Man, this is a sad day for wildlife and their advocates the world over. Sad.
A Lament for Steve Irwin
So Here’s a Lament to Steve Irwin
A fair dinkum beaut of a bloke
He was one of the best,
Got stingrayed in the chest
We’re all sorry to hear of him croak.
There was never a croc that could shock him
Or a ‘goanna he’d not wanna hold.
When he met with a snake
He would give it a shake
He was lively and fearless and bold.
He would bounce like he’s indiarubber
He had a magnificent smile
He was such a good sport
In his wee Khaki shorts
He was thoughtful and didn’t get riled.
So lets think of his wife and his children
They’re missing their husband and Dad.
While they’re sounding the bell
We will all wish them well
And the loss of him makes us all sad.
So Here’s a Lament to Steve Irwin
A fair dinkum beaut of a bloke
He was one of the best,
Got stingrayed in the chest
We’re all sorry to hear of him croak.
Nice one. 
Though I didn’t know him, this sounds like something he’d get a big kick out of.
omg, that’s really bad news, that dude rocked! 
It is a great loss, but I doubt anyone (himself included) expected his demise to come gently in his sleep, of old age.
Yes, sad indeed, but we did see this day coming, didn’t we? If one is going to live life as a constant risk taker, it’s typically only a matter of time before the odds catch up with you. It’s gambling really, of the deadliest sort, and you know risks going in. It’s ashame though when these folks have kids and don’t know when to quit, for the sake of their family. There are other ways to make a living, but there’s no way to replace a father or mother.
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.
Loren
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.
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. 
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.
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
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