Not kidding, (And I know its not electrical...) this man will be missed the world over.

Millions have learned about the animale kingdom in a way that can not be duplicated.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=127493

Yes he will be missed.

It was very surprising and sad news.

Steve Irwin, alias the Crocodile Hunter,

Crikey he was special and very dedicated to all not really loved animals like crocs, snakes, reptiles.

He was special and we will miss the Saturday afternoon shows on TV.

If you go to Australia on holiday visit the Australian Zoo, in Beerwah, North of Brisbane, Queensland.

R.I.P. Steve

Raymond

Sad yes, surprising...no way.
Don

This was a tradgety for the whole world.Outside of Jaque Cousteau steve was the mutual of omahas wild kindom in the 1990s and the 21st first century. What he did for wild life and endangered species was unsurpassed. He will be missed by all. My tv set is a lot dimmer now that hes gone. Goodbye Steve and Rest in Peace.

A truely great man who's shows were done with excellent taste. A show you could let your kids watch and not be on guard. No drinking, smoking, foul language or off color humor. See, we can still enjoy clean, respectful tv shows. I hope that his wife and team take over where he left off. Thanks Steve for all the fun and opening my eyes up to conservation and the larger picture.

No one should ever take the types of unnecessary risks that he took.
Don

Friends, I was shocked.

The way, the media treated him was no respect, tho he did a lot for us to get to know these animals better. He did what a person must do who is really interested in the world he/she lives in, not like many.

I really appreciate what he has done, and will probably miss the tought to visit him at the ZOO one day.



Don, pls, don`t use this topic for letting out the steam. Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Gloria (edited 09-05-2006).]

The man lived and died doing what he enjoyed.


How can you knock him for that?

He was just another beautiful person, from a beautiful place, now headed home.

Thanks Steve.

Dnkldorf, well said.
Rest well Steve.

Gloria,
I'm not letting off steam. His actions were no different than an electrician working on energized systems without PPE. We don't accept that as being ok. I see no difference.
Don

His croc experience taught him a bad habit. You may be able to jump on top of a croc but you never get over a stigray. That is wherre the barb is. I know divers who have been nicked that way but they were not right on top of the ray, only swiming close to the bottom. It appears Steve came right over top of the ray from behind trying to stay in the shot. The rule is you always swim under a ray. When they spook they throw up the barb and jump straight up, then out. That is how they get off the bottom where they lay and get going.

BTW it is really pretty cool to swim with the rays in the Caymans but the guides give you the same warning before you get in the water.

Don, if it had been a crock, lion, hippo, snake etc that he had been near I would not have been surprised.

A Stingray was a surprise, people get near them without problems all the time.

It was a true freak accident, short of hiding in a fallout shelter none of us can say we are safe from freak occupancies.

RIP Mr Irwin.

Bob

That would be up to each individual.

I personally think boxing is a stupid sport, still I would never say that someone that wants to box should not be allowed to do it.



[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 09-05-2006).]

I was suprised. I figured when Steve's time came he would slip and fall in the bathtub or something equally ironic.

Lest things get heated... sometimes we vent our grief by striking out, looking for fomeone to blame. "If only...."

We are so wrapped up in our hi-tech, top of the food chain lives that we often underestimate the power that is often found in nature. Ever 'defy' nature by, say, climbing a ladder in a storm... only to have the wind remove the ladder once you're up?

And we get complacent.

I'm not going to point fingers. I am sure that, once all the facts are in, there will be lessons to learn. But hindsight is always 20/20.

The guy certainly lived his life to the fullest, and brought joy to many. I must confess, there were times I cheered for the croc!

One lesson of his, that I wish more celebs would take to heart: stick to your business, and act like a grown-up! I never, ever heard him spout off about, say, the "midle east," or hear of him drinking, drugging, chasing women, hitting photographers,.... or any of the other misbehaviour so many "famous" folks seem to think is OK, just because they're famous.

I was very depressed to hear of his loss! I keep thinking of his wife and two children and his surviving father and friends. I'm lifting them all up in my prayers.

Sometimes there is very little perceived risk while a hidden dynamic risk is just waiting to zap you. For me, jump 37 was almost my last(400 feet) just because we taped up my used old baggy jumpsuit to increase my fall rate. We made sure I could still get my pullout but never considered my aerodynamics at pull time. Had I bounced, any amount of second guessing wouldn't have helped the pain felt by my loved ones. You would have been able to measure the impact that I would've made on this world, probably 2 to 6 inches. Steve Irwin's love of nature and passion touched and educated alot of people. He got a huge amount of life out of his 44 short years.
G'day mate!

Joe

Don, I think what endeared him to so many was that through the screen you could tell that he was genuine. Most of it show, but a genuine showman at that. Those who knew him personally have said that they always expected something like this. Granted he took considerable (Calculated, and un-calculated) risks all the time, but that was part of the show, like a stunt-man - no different than say Jackie Chan, or Evel Knievel. (For that matter any rodeo clown) All three did not see pain or risk of death as an obsticle. On the other hand, all could have faked, or had other people do thier stunts - none did it solely for money - they liked risk, and lived for it. In Steve Irwins case he was so comfortable with things you or I would never think of doing that he often never thought of them. What is tragic is that a man who wrestled Croc's was killed in a freak accident by a what is reffered to as the "pussycat of the sea". Stingray's often hide in the sand, and its speculative at this point if he even knew it was there. * Also being in those waters he was just as much at risk (if not more) to be stung fataly by a 2" box jellyfish. Nature can be dangerous....

(*I myself, while snokeling in Okinawa Japan, had a 10+' Stingray swim under me - I didn't know what it was untill the tail passed - I thought it was the shadow of a cloud on the bottom. Later that year I accidentley stepped on a sea urchin, the next year I was a sniper target during convoys in Somalia - life is full of risk...)

Anyway, the reason I even mentioned this topic is that as far as the animale kingom goes, the guy was truely excited, and was always pushing to get other people as excited as he was. In the end, that will be his legacy, not the stunts.

The story that came out the first day was that the ray was looking over the camera man and Steve came into the shot from over top the ray. When the ray spooked it just did what rays do. The result was very predictable.
This wasn't a freak accident, it was a very bad choice of how to approach the ray. If he came up under the ray he would have simply had a great shot.

The story I heard is that they had finished filming for 'dangers of the deep' or whatever it was to be called, and he and a camera man went looking for small animals for his daughters show..... Either way, all speculation at this point.....
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5362163

Rest In Peace Mate. and god bless

What a sad, unfortunate event. Steve Irwin was amazing, fun to watch and listen to, and had a real passion for his job. Heck, I don't even think he'd call it a job.


Don, I think I can understand where you're coming from, as your background brings you in direct contact with the consequences of people's actions. But consider this:

I used to race motocross. In three years of riding and racing I can honestly tell you all that the most serious injury I got was a broken middle left toe. And I've come off the bike from 20 feet up in the air! And what happens?:

I was working at a friend's cinema, on the multi-level flat roof. Fell from one level to the next, a drop of about 4-5 feet, and completely shattered every bone in my left wrist. An expensive surgery and wearing a "Terminator" rig on my arm for a month, and I still don't have full use of that wrist. (After 6 years!)

I have friends who play tackle football (and get hurt constantly) and won't go near a bike. I have friends who skydive and won't go near a bike. I know POCO workers who work 12kv and up live and won't go near a bike.

I won't play tackle football, see no reason to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft , and would never work with power lines, live or not.

And there are probably EC's on here who work around high voltage all day and wouldn't touch a bike, either.

The point is simply, Steve Irwin had a passion for animals and studying thier behaviour. I have a passion for motocross and take steps to make it as safe as possible (Protective gear, maintaining the bike and my body, training and practicing jumps, etc.) Everyone has a passion for something that others may consider dangerous. But the danger is indeed part of the reward of doing you job/hobby well.

Was Steve Irwin a risk-taker? Absolutely. Unnecessary risks? Maybe, sometimes. But his passion and humility made him a great man. One who I would not hesitate to have my kids (if I had any) look up to.

R.I.P. Steve. And may God Bless and look after your family.

edited for spelling

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 09-05-2006).]

HE made learning about animals fun.we will miss him. Good by

There is probably a lesson in this for all of us. You can be very competant at your trade and still make a mistake that kills you.
Think of that the next time you say "it is just one hot wire, I don't need to turn off the breaker"

Greg,
Darned good point mate.
Steve Irwin was known as a risk-taker.
It seems rather ironic that a guy known for calculated risks could have judged this situation so wrong.
It also goes to show just how dangerous Sting-ray's are.
He certainly was a one in a million.

R.I.P Steve.


{Message edited to repair image tags}


[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 09-06-2006).]

'Tis true he will be missed.
I might have hallucinated this, but I believe the State (in Australia) is offering a State funeral to the family. Now there is respect!

Life can be wierd. I've done skydiving, been thrown off motorbikes at high speed, fallen 17 metres while rockclimbing, yet my only serious injury was from falling a few feet while wiring a house.

Its a shame - He was a good showman and he worked close to the bone but he managed the risks and was always safe. Most of it a bit of bravado to keep the folks intersted and make good TV. What happened was a freak event and it caught everyone off guard....

I hope this incident doesn't create an "anti-ray" mania like the movie "Jaws" did for sharks.

I grew up surfing the closest beach to home, "Ray Bay", as it's known, Seal Beach CA. (the 1 mile stretch is responsible for 1/4-1/3 of all the stingray stings in North America.)
A link
I got my got my first sting in the ankle when I was 12 yrs old. I've got a dead spot of tissue there to this day, and don't hold a thing against the animal I stepped on. Rays and skates have been around for >65 million years, we just got here.
The stinger is a purely reactionary defensive mechanism, and is not used for anything other than protection. Rays are a very interesting critter, and even come in up to 200 volt electric models.
As for Steve Irwin, not to ruffle everybody's feathers, but I think he just joins the list of senseless fools.

just my personal opinion





[This message has been edited by electure (edited 09-10-2006).]

I think a more subtle point can be made:

When you choose your way of life, you also choose how you will be hurt, or die.

Firemen suck smoke, Policemen get hit, electricians fall from ladders, and animal handlers get bit / clawed / stung / whatever.

In a similar vein, our expertise in one area does not imply automatic expertise in another. Just as an electrician might appreciate that he is NOT an alarm installer, a lion tamer ought to realise he knows little about fish. Over-confidence gets you every time!

Finally, let's add "thinking" to our response to emergency situations. A guy falls off a ladder into the mud, immediately dragging him inside might not be smart.... just as pulling a sting ray spine our of your heart, then applying CPR, might not have been the best choice either.

Nice pics; but....

- Investigation showed that Roy aparently had a stroke on stage, and the tiger's 'rescue' response (where Roy was bit in the neck) was not much of a medical issue; treating the stroke was;

- "Mr. Grizzly" was, by almost any measure, a deliberately ignorant doofus, who casually relied upon his 'faith' to ignore known, documented behaviour of what happens when big, hungry bears encounter smaller, slower creatures;

- "Michael" has given us numerous examples of his eccentricities; and,

- Steve Irwin was investigated, and cleared, by child welfare authorities... who agreed that the kid was in no danger. I think the camera angle just made things look dicier than they really were.

All I can say is; Steve, you will be missed by more people around the world than you could ever imagine. Count me as one of those people.