September 04, 2006

Crikey! A stingray finishes the job for the crocs The Age is reporting that Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has been fatally bested by a stingray.

There were not any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot MoFi community will miss him - even if you did not enjoy his work, there is no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American Australian icon. Sources report that shortly before the attack he was heard saying "right, now watch where I stick my thumb..."

posted by Rembrandt Q. Einstein 18 years ago
  • I guess it was bound to happen, when you go round mucking about with the wildlife. And a heart attack! He wasn't even eaten by a Crocodile. I mean, really. Still, he was an icon of sorts. .
  • Killed instantly by a stingray. Is there a single life form in or around Australia (besides humans) that isn't stupidly poisonous?
  • The Noozles are pretty harmless.
  • I still remember the first time I -ever- saw Steve Irwin. It was December 1999 and we were vacationing at a friend's house in Florida... and the Croc Hunter was on TV. After seeing 3 hours of this, we wandered out to the big ponds on the golf course and were treated to two alligators lurking in the water. I passed on the idea of wrestling one of them down and remarking on what a beaut it was.
  • Stingray to the chest, that's gotta feel worse than average .
  • Very sad.
  • Oh man, I hope his wife/family/friends are going to be alright... she was a pretty big part of the show as well. But--blah. It is indeed, very sad :S
  • Poor fella.
  • . Crikey indeed.
  • . i thought stingrays are timid creatures
  • . they are, it attacked through fear, apparently
  • .
  • It probably didn't 'attack' at all, as such; their sting response is an automatic one, like a knee-jerk reaction which is entirely reflex. The rarity of such a sting cannot be adequately expressed. Usually they occur in the lower leg or extremities, and even then are extremely uncommon. I imagine, based on his past actions and character, he attempted to swim close & intimately with the animal, & it fled, in so doing jabbing its barb into his chest. Perhaps he was attempting to swim above or next to it in the typical proximity he enjoyed, & it suddenly changed direction in fear, to flee, stabbing him in the process as it jetted away. :( It has to be said that he many times expressed the view that it was a possibility he could be fatally wounded by his common & deliberate desire to get close to dangerous animals, & he was completely OK with that. I'm sure he would not have any regrets, other than leaving his young children. I've often considered him reckless, even though it was clear he gained an extraordinary 'high' from his encounters, which he enthusiastically shared with viewers, which in turn was super valuable for the cause of animal conservation & education, instilling fascination & love for nature particularly in the young. Sadly, this time, he miscalculated, & we all lose. While admirable in many ways, he would have been even more valuable to the conservation movement if he had been more cautious and lived a long and full life, eschewing such encounters. And, of course, more valuable to his wife and children, who are now without him. But, it was his life. Salut.
  • Very sad. Stingrays are virtually always harmless. There's a tourist dive in the Cayman Islands called Stingray City, where the biggest danger is sunburn and "hickies" from overexcited (from feeding) stingrays. stingraycity.org pics.
  • Tragic. A great loss for his family, Australia, world conservation, and for courageous individuality. A remarkable man who's passing may do even more for the causes he espoused. An echo of Chyren's "Salut" .. for Steve Urwin, the man who lived life with such joy and enthusiastic engagement.
  • He would find himself in this predicament, had he jumped on a croc. RIP, Steve.
  • . I really liked the guy, it's not everyday you find someone who really enjoys what they do, and shares it with others.
  • To live a life half as exuberant and full of joy as he had would be a life well-lived. It did me good to know that bloke was out there. RIP Steve.
  • I don't get access to cable much, but when I do, I always look for his show. He was a big goof, and could get rid of my crankiness before the first commercial break. (Unless I was so cranky that his exhuberance just irritated the hell out of me.) Poor guy. Poor family.
  • Completely sad news. Quite an astounding individual, that was sincere and full of respect for his life's passion. My heart goes out to his family... a beaut indeed.
  • Very sad indeed. Such contagious enthusiasm and passion are rare. .
  • (insert a "not" in my previous comment)
  • The first time I ever saw Steve Irwin, he annoyed the hell out of me with his over-the-top enthusiasm and that silly grin. He was probably my second favorite TV biologist of all time and certainly the best of the current crop. We could stand a few more Steve Irwins in the world.
  • Like watching a car wreck, that was the feeling I got from his shows. Couldn't look away at the incredibly dangerous things he did. Too bad he kept living so on the line; he paid the price. And his family. Damn, I was once at that Stingray place; even with the assurance of guides that they weren't dangerous, I was quite shaken after a couple glided right at me and plastered their underside, right on my mask. And the fact there was a mob of frenzied tourist *plus* a mob of frenzied stingrays being fed... it was quite a scene.
  • . You all realize it was caught on tape, right?
  • Such shocking and sad news. I truly enjoyed watching and listening to him, as did my children and husband. Such a loss for everyone who enjoyed his wonderful style and passion. I can't imagine the pain his wife is feeling, regardless of how prepared for it she had to have been. I will mourn him.
  • I find it terribly ironic that he was killed by an animal that you don't usually think of as dangerous, while he survived so many close encounters with far scarier things. I guess it was just his time to go. I will miss his presence, though I admit that his show made me pretty nervous.
  • I put on The Wiggles Safari for my 2-year old this morning... done at Irwin's Australia Zoo. Maybe later tonight I'll drink a toast to him.
  • Also Steve Irwin had a prominent role in it, too.
  • Not meaning this to be tasteless; I am saddened by his death and his loss. That being said, it strikes me as really, really ironic that he was there filming a show called "The Ocean's Deadliest", but they had stopped filming that due to weather and instead he was filming a clip for an innocuous little children's show. Further more, someone who regularly engages in some of the most dangerously stupid and death-defying things you can do in the biological world whereupon he succumbed to his demise in a way that normal non-risk taking tourists don't even die, something that's claimed only 17 lives in the past decade... Makes you wonder if you can actually use up all your luck for a lifetime. Like, if it wasn't a stingray, he would have gotten mauled to death by bunnies in a freak petting zoo accident, just because he'd pushed his luck to the limit.
  • Also, it seems odd that no one is talking about the time he dangled his baby in front of a croc.
  • .
  • Regarding the croc-dangling incident - the baby was a considerable distance from the crocodile. It doesn't necessarily make it much better, but if there was anyone qualified to take an infant into a crocodile enclosure, it would be him. Plus, I bet he caught more hell from the wife than any of you people can imagine.
  • Actually, his wife was psyched about it and said it'd be a positive experience for the kid, if memory serves. The croc doesn't seem too interested in the tyke anyhoo.
  • He went quickly, doing what he loved. May we all be so lucky. IIRC, a friend of mine passed away this week, of an unexpected, very quick heart attack at the age of 53. We're all sad and still shocked, but at his memorial on Saturday I learned that he'd packed more into those 53 years than I will if I get twice as many. It makes you wonder if some people just know somewhere deep in their subconscious that they have to squeeze a lot into a short time.
  • When I first saw his show I thought it was crazy because no one could be that on all the time. When I kept seeing him do it, I had to give it to him for being true to himself. At least he's hanging out with Chili, his ol' dog. .
  • Don't forget Mary, the croc he loved as much as his wife. I'm sure she'll be waiting for him too. Singapore's newspapers had his death as front page news. I think he impressed alot of people here for his sheer love of life.
  • Is there a single life form in or around Australia (besides humans) that isn't stupidly poisonous? I am stupid, poisonous, and inhuman. Address in profile if you want a barb through the heart.
  • I was sad to hear about this - the croc hunter was a goof, but he truly loved his animals, and that love was infectious. Here's hoping right about now something like this is going down: "Okay! Now, right over there by those pearly gates you can see the Saint Peter. Crikey, he's a big one! Don't try this at home, folks - but watch as I go over to him and try to pick him up..."
  • . Although watching the obit on the beeb, I was pleased to discover that Prof. Bellamy was still alive. Thought he died ages ago...
  • Heh, beauty CLF!
  • Couple details on his death. Video link not featuring the video.
  • Now is when we see if YouTube really is any good.
  • Apparently, his wife has possession of (what is claimed to be the only copy of) the video, and is trying to decide if, and if so how much, of it to release.
  • It appears I was in error in my previous comment. Stingray wounds are indeed relatively common (although I've never heard of any directly in my nearly 20 years of fucking about in the ocean full of them). Deaths from Stingray wounds are, as I said, so uncommon as to be not worth thinking about when you swim near these animals. It's incredibly sad & unlucky that Irwin died in this way. Though I agree with Germaine Greer (there's a first for everything, folks) that Irwin never gave animals enough space. Also, his politics sucked, and he loved money. However, he was not evil, & was an enjoyable entertainer. He did not deserve to die in this incredibly painful manner. And, yes, it would have been excruciating. Heart attacks are extremely painful. Heart attacks brought on by the super-painful Stingray venom must be.. uh.. just awful. I'm so very sorry he had to experience that. But animals don't judge you.
  • Some people say we all pick the when where & how we go. I like to think he would have picked an animal, although I wouldn't have guessed a stingray. I was remembering a show where he was holding up a [insert the name of a terrifically ugly beast here] and saying, "Gah, look at him - he's absolutely a beauty!" And thinking - the man's an aesthete. A very hyperactive aesthete. That's excellent. Irwin's Death Clogs Web Sites, Stuns World Fans
  • I don't really know if that can be classed as aestheticism. I think the beauty he is admiring is not the, uh, surface beauty, but the beauty of the type & adaption of the specimen, it's uniqueness. Aesthetics is all about surface beauty, man. But I could be wrong. We need bees in here, stat.
  • "Some people say we all pick the when where & how we go." 300 years from now, peacefully, in my harem. FYI.
  • Right now, suddenly, in front of my compu
  • liar. Beauty post from Il Blu: Steve Irwin followed his bliss right into Legend. His genuine joy came through on every episode of his show. Sure, he may have hammed it up. Sure, he took a million reckless risks and the habit eventually caught up to him. But the man lived like he meant it. Who can say they saw his sense of purpose waver? When he spoke of his passion for conservation, of the mission that had chosen him, it was plain that his heart did not know the corruption of doubt. Those rushing to be the snarkiest belle at the ball would do well to examine their own lives, their own ambitions. How many of your hopes and dreams are still folded up and uncolored? Steve Irwin became a mythic figure in 44 years. He stomps now through the wilds of Elysium, tracking game greater than any he knew on this mortal coil. "Crikey, look at the size of that Chimera! What a little beauty!"
  • Andrew Denton interview transcript that's being talked about, 5 seconds into it and I'm liking it. ANDREW DENTON: Here you are. STEVE IRWIN: Wooh. How are you going, mate? Thanks. Thank you very much. ANDREW DENTON: Steve Irwin... STEVE IRWIN: Yes. ANDREW DENTON: I'm looking forward to this. This is going to be a lot of fun. STEVE IRWIN: It will be. I'm on fire, mate. Let's get into it. ANDREW DENTON: We're already at the red level for energy and we haven't got to the first question. The Australia Zoo, which is now Steve Irwin Central on the Sunshine Coast. STEVE IRWIN: That's where me heart beats from.
  • Actually, his wife was psyched about it and said it'd be a positive experience for the kid, if memory serves. If she could stand him in the delivery room, she'd be game for anything.
  • From pete's link above: ANDREW DENTON: Tell the truth. Is there ever a time when you're afraid? STEVE IRWIN: Yeah, plenty. Plenty. Plenty. Plenty. Plenty of times. In my line of work I have to deal in some heavy-duty places. East Timor, I was up there when strife was going on. I spent a fair bit of time in Central and South America with a bit of strife going on there. I had a couple of nasty incidents which happened in Africa and Kenya not long after the Nairobi bombing, actually. They made me scared, pretty scared. But what scares me more than anything is bringing my daughter into the world. The world has changed, Andrew, hasn't it? There's this dark cloud of terrorism. She's been on 230-odd flights, I think, and she's just five years old. We spend a lot of time on planes because I like to take my family wherever I go in the world. People factor does actually scare the living daylights out of me. I've seen some pretty awful, icky sort of things going on. ANDREW DENTON: Animals don't scare you, but people do? STEVE IRWIN: Fair dinkum, they do.
  • "Crikey, look at the size of that Chimera! What a little beauty!" Indeed he is.
  • "But animals don't judge you." By those words crazy cat ladies are born.
  • I know almost nothing about Irwin except that he put himself in deadly situations for a living. Is it fair to do that when one has young children? My netflix queue is full of Herzog right now, so I'll see "Grizzly man" this or next week. Will be thinking of Irwin.
  • By those words crazy cat ladies are born. Alright, 'fess up: who taped the "Hit me" sign on the llamajumper?
  • Well, this is certainly sad news. But Steve Irwin clearly enjoyed the life he led, and in the long run, I believe quality of life counts for a lot more than quantity. (That is, of course, only an opinion.) Aesthetics is one of those subjects that's been continually re-defined in the past century or two, and so much so that today no one can say what it is or isn't with any assurance, Chy. A gorgeous animal, to me, would be one bursting with good health, physically sound, and in general embodying the characteristics of its kind. But I've no idea what Mr. Irwin's idea would have been. He seemed to relish them all, judging by the time or two I saw his show some years ago.
  • Well, this is certainly sad news. But Steve Irwin clearly enjoyed the life he led, and in the long run, I believe quality of life counts for a lot more than quantity. (That is, of course, only an opinion.) Aesthetics is one of those subjects that's been continually re-defined in the past century or two, and so much so that today no one can say what it is or isn't with any assurance, Chy. A gorgeous animal, to me, would be one bursting with good health, physically sound, and in general embodying the characteristics of its kind. But I've no idea what Mr. Irwin's
  • Well, this is certainly sad news. But Steve Irwin clearly enjoyed the life he led, and in the long run, I believe quality of life counts for a lot more than quantity. (That is, of course, only an opinion.) Aesthetics is one of those subjects that's been continually re-defined in the past century or two, and so much so that today no one can say what it is or isn't with assurance, except that some one else will disagree. A gorgeous animal, to me, would be one bursting with good health, physically sound, and in general embodying the characteristics of its kind. But I've no idea what Mr. Irwin's idea would have been. He seemed to relish them all, judging by the time or two I saw his show some years ago.
  • Well, I was being tongue in cheek, there, a bit. ;) In all honesty I was just trying to start a fight.
  • Step away from the post new comment button, old man!
  • Whoa, that's wild! Began trying to post that comment here at 29 minutes after the hour, and kept getting only The server has timed out. Apparently got the tail end chopped off at some point when it timed out. Had no indication it posted at all until just now (44 minutes after the hour. My first and I hope last tripled comment, pox on it!
  • Yes, the server has been farty. I blame Bush.
  • A nine-minute discrepancy between time here and the UTC time on MoFi. Not an instantaneous process, but typically there's only a 5 minute gap to be observed.
  • I'm all for blaming Shrub for everything nefarious. Like sting rays.
  • I know almost nothing about Irwin except that he put himself in deadly situations for a living. Is it fair to do that when one has young children? There are a lot of Dads who put themselves in dangerous situations every day. In fact in Australia it is riskier to get in a car and drive to work than handle wild animals. He knew a lot more about them than most people - perhaps if you do get a chance to see any of his programs - or indeed any nature programs in Australia you'll see how close people are to the wild life there. Even in the major cities you come across some of the more dangerous ones (hell in surburban Adelaide we even would find common browns in the back yard, and sharks down the road in the beach). Do we stop all activities such as walking around the bush, and swimming in the oceans in case a parent meets with a fatal accident? No of course not - that would be ridiculous. I just don't see how you could even come up with such a silly statement. I'm sure as painful as losing their Dad is, it is much better to have been born and known him even briefly than to not exist at all.
  • I know almost nothing about Irwin except that he put himself in deadly situations for a living. Is it fair to do that when one has young children? So, firefighters shouldn't have children?
  • Fact: there are no risk-free activitites.
  • But let's be frank, Irwin doesn't deserve all this lauding that's going on now. He was no saint. The obsession is going a bit far now (not here, I mean elsewhere in general). True that he's preferable to fake Cruise daughter & fat tv entertainers pretending to be journalists.
  • Chyren, the guy just died. I think everyone (barring those who are truly scum of the earth) deserves a bit of lauding about how he was a good man just after he dies - even if most people have to cross their fingers behind their backs to do so. It's more of a comfort to those left behind, than to the dead man, I like to think.
  • Monkeyfilter: preferable to fake Cruise daughter & fat tv entertainers Chy, may you be forever blessed! Yet, I feel the guy deserves the lauding - saint or not...
  • WARNING POTENTIAL THREAD KILLER! I have a hard time mourning people I don't know. Especially ones that take on extremely dangerous carrers, or commit suicide. There are too many people that don't want to be in dangerous situations that are being killed everyday, I mourn them, because the hand they were dealt sucks. Then I mourn people that live shitty lives because of extreme poverty, poverty inflicted by greedy people, or just everyday assholes. There is too much crap being dealt to every day people for me to worry about Steve Irwin. Sorry that is my two cents.
  • Who is this idiot Robert Thompson? And I don't care if/when he dies.
  • "deserves a bit of lauding about how he was a good man" Yeah, sure. But not for days and days on the media of the entire planet. In Australia I expect it, for a week or so. That's it. Then privacy for the family. Otherwise it's just a bit addictive & ill. The guy made a living jumping on crocodiles and picking up poisonous snakes. Like my bro said this morning "he was gonna get killed sooner or later". If he had not had this kind of career, then the shock & so forth would be justifiable. The only shock was that he got it from a relatively placid animal.
  • WARNING POTENTIAL THREAD KILLER! You forgot to close that off with the tag. bees summed it up well, there are no risk-free activities. I don't see how the way he lived his life put him at any greater risk than any other way of living. He was gonna get killed sooner or later - well of course! Life is fragile and can be taken at any moment without warning. People get killed each day, simply commuting to their desk job for example. For me, hearing of his death was sad news, not for what he did with his life, but how he touched others with it. Sure, he may have been a bumbling idiot jumping on crocs and dancing with snakes, but look at the scores of lives he touched in a positive and encouraging manner. He didn't belittle little kiddies - he brought them into his world. Was I a wee little one now, surely I would be quite taken with his antics. I don't see as many positive characters in the world at-large these days...
  • He wasn't a bumbling idiot, he was a superb & very smart man, an educator who introduced kids to wildlife in a way that made contact. It's absolutely fucked he got taken out that way. I apologise for my earlier comments, they were written without insight.
  • I agree with Chryen. He was an extremely intelligent man, and although his odd-sounding voice and bizarre antics put a lot of people off, he did a hell of a lot to make people appreciate his wild life. I just can't believe Steve Urkle was killed like this.
  • It's bound to get over the top because it's much easier to start a thread/meme, than to stop one. Well, not for Mr. Trycicle, but that's another bannination story However, I think it's fascinating that almost every single person I know has mentioned this to me and not a single one was an avid fan or knew much about him. Yet they all seem strangely moved by the news. I think it's news about a characteristic (or a character) we all know and love at some level, not necessarily the carbon-based, temporaneous life form known as "Steve Irwin". People sure do love that guy tho. I expect at about Quidnunc o'clock teh Intarnets will resume their usual tubery.
  • Well now, I was not saying that he is a bumbling idiot, referring to the fact that others have been saying that of him. Did I do that??
  • No sweetie you didn't. You did good.
  • Yeah, everyone I've talked to has told me they hated Irwin, but that they suddenly now love him because he is dead, & became so in such an unexpected, and, frankly, stupid way. Personally, I laud quidnunc kid for bypassing any humanly recogniseable emotions and going straight for the milligan in all of this. Only an inhuman monster could make a joke about an Aussie loser getting killed by a fish, but frankly, only a vile monstrosity could ignore the fact that a khaki-clad bowl-head got caught out by a cartilaginous croaker. And that's why quidnunc kid r00ls. At least, until we find out who he really is, then hang him with piano wire. Unfortunately, he is not subject to gravity, although he is a darkie, which makes things a bit easier.
  • A darkie, huh? Sweet. Is it twue what they say about you peepow? It's twue!
  • Irwin's fans take out grief in 'revenge attacks' on stingrays But, er, only ten dead stingrays.
  • Not too many fans.
  • Irwin's fans Local assholes . . .
  • BORING! Show us the goddam film already! with all due respect to the poor bloke's family and all
  • *kicks kitfisto*
  • *Ow* Hey, I bet I'm not the only one who'd watch it if it was shown...
  • I'll pick my nose and feed it to my dog in Irwin's honor. Think I should write a press release?
  • SOUTH DAKOTA, FRIDAY: Nickdanger today picked his own nose and fed the gathered mucus to his dog in tribute to Steve Irwin, the famed Australian naturalist and television presenter who was killed by a sting-ray on 4 September. Nickdanger was inspired to make the tribute by news of a man who offered his son's placenta as a sacrificial tribute to Mr Irwin. "I guess I just have a lot of snot to give," said Nickdanger. "And if some of that disgusting, green sludge that forms up my nose can go into my dog's mouth for a good cause, then it's the least I can do". Animal conservation groups have applauded Nickdanger's action as an appropriate tribute to the famous Australian larrikin. Sir David Attenborough, speaking from inside a lemur's anus, where he was filming a new BBC Documentary, The Brown Planet, has also indicated his approval. "I can only hope that when I go to meet my maker, Nickdanger marks my passing by digging a booger out of his conk and making his dog chew it up," the famed naturist said.
  • *dies and is dead*
  • Yeah its all fun until those lizards come back for seconds!
  • Thanks for making my dream a reality, q.
  • Monkeyfilter: marks my passing by digging a booger out of his conk and making his dog chew it up.
  • Instead of wearing goggles, Steve should have been wearing sunglasses--his Ray Bans
  • Craikey!!
  • That's so freakish!
  • Well, it's started. We thought it would be the whales, or the dolphins; or maybe the doves, with their flu. No, the battle will be humanity vs. stingrays. I bet on the ones with the neurotoxins.
  • Pfft. They're not so tough. We just have to dump more PCBs on the reefs.
  • Affectionate but slightly sarcastic Steve Irwin Soundboard And if you're looking for threats from the sea, dolphins evolve opposable thumbs, or perhaps the Kraken has awokened?
  • I bet the whales have a mutual defense pact with the stingrays. They're the Hessian mercenaries of the undersea world.
  • Hey now, don't be dissin' my whales now Y'all know what those giant clams are for now, don't deny it. Step outta line . . . *Clomp*
  • The war is on. 81 yr-old takes hit better than Steve Irwin.
  • Wolof posted that above ^
  • Oops. Sorry, Wolof.
  • The stingrays were the first to loose patience with mankind....
  • Just wait, the next step on the invasion will be when cats infect their owners with toxoplas... oh, wait.
  • Khan said his father suffered from diabetes and perhaps his body couldn't handle the poison as well as it used to. Ouch.
  • random, eh?
  • It knocked her over. She died from head trauma. Not dramatic enough, though, is it? Much scarier to have malevolent stingrays combing the seas for unfortunate tourists to spear.