http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20349888-2,00.html
RIP.
whoa ... "killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest" :o
HOLY CRAP shaZam!!
Ya know, I kinda knew it was coming sooner or later, but I was expecting it to be a snake that got him....
x
RIP.
My condolences to his family and friends.
RIP
He was filming a documentary about dangerious creatures of the sea in the great barrier reef. He swam over it and the sting ray stabbed him.
-ash
Poor Bloke. He was a pretty cool dude. he will be missed :cry:
I really liked him. RIP crikeyman :(
:cry:
It was the 1st thing I heard on the radio this morning. I quite liked the guy and yeah its a tragedy but it comes as no surprize, what do you expect when you go messing about with the worlds deadliest creatures......soon enough your luck is going to run out.
I have great sorrow that Steve has passed on. I told my wife early this morn.
May his wife and children receive great comfort from all his friends and confidantes.
I am very very sorry. He definately was a doer. Pussies need to stay in the
cubicles and write about it. He "did it". I praise his wife. She is as bad as they come.
Meaning good. May the spirits of the Outback add him to their infinite list. Righteous.
The more I think about this issue the more I think what a selfish bastard he actually was......Did he ever stop to think about his wife and kids when he was wrestling with 15ft crocs, or grabbing an Aussie King-Brown by the tail. Did he ever stop to consider what would happen to his family if one of the most deadly animals in the world finally got pissed off with him, got up earlier than him that morning and snapped its jaws on him??? Obviously not, the lure of fame, fortune and cold hard CASH was greater in his little world. Everyone seems to have forgotten about this episode..........
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/03/backpage/1_2_0421_24_13.txt
If he had dropped that kid it would have been a pile of croc` shaZam! 12 hours later. Totaly irresponsible. I have never seen a more idiotic thing in my life other than when Micheal Jackson waved his kid out of the Hotel window. They both should have gone down for what they did. Any death is a tragedy and I am sorry for Steve Irwin. I recognise his motivations and achievments but I am more sorry for his wife and kids. Unlike him they will be suffering for years as a result of his actions.
Quote from: sledge on September 04, 2006, 03:18:37 PM
The more I think about this issue the more I think what a selfish bastard he actually was......Did he ever stop to think about his wife and kids when he was wrestling with 15ft crocs, or grabbing an Aussie King-Brown by the tail. Did he ever stop to consider what would happen to his family if one of the most deadly animals in the world finally got pissed off with him, got up earlier than him that morning and snapped its jaws on him??? Obviously not, the lure of fame, fortune and cold hard CASH was greater in his little world. Everyone seems to have forgotten about this episode..........
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/03/backpage/1_2_0421_24_13.txt
If he had dropped that kid it would have been a pile of croc` shaZam! 12 hours later. Totaly irresponsible. I have never seen a more idiotic thing in my life other than when Micheal Jackson waved his kid out of the Hotel window. They both should have gone down for what they did. Any death is a tragedy and I am sorry for Steve Irwin. I recognise his motivations and achievments but I am more sorry for his wife and kids. Unlike him they will be suffering for years as a result of his actions.
Not that I don't understand your sentiment, but do you have family (your own spouse/kids or parents/siblings)? Do you ride a motorcycle? Similar risk/reward situation to what Steve Irwin was in. He made the decision to observe and tangle with dangerous animals. We all make the decision to ride (essentially) seats with little engines when surrounded by tens of thousands of pounds of steel boxes with bigger engines. I think his life was probably safer than my average commute.
But I'm sure he had a hell of a lot more fun at work. :cheers: to Steve
Quote from: MrDan on September 04, 2006, 04:16:59 PM
I think his life was probably safer than my average commute ... But I'm sure he had a hell of a lot more fun at work. :cheers: to Steve
+1 :cheers:
No no no, the point is being missed. Yeah I have a family and yeah I have several bikes. I have job myself which although not particularly dangerous in its own right exposes me to risks which could kill me if not managed correctly. I dont ride without a helmet or at excessive speed for the conditions or with bald tyres or with no lights at night etc. I use protective equipment at work, I am aware of the dangers and follow safety procedures and simply dont take chances. Now consider this, Irwins crocs and animals had to be fed agreed, but he didnt need to stand next to the damn things to do it did he? Most of the time I saw no good reason for him to pick up and handle deadly snakes and spiders etc other than for the cameras and when he did I never saw him wear gloves or masks etc because if he did, it simply wouldnt make for good TV. He took chances he didnt have to and continualy risked his life just to up the WOW factor. You cant compare a trip to work on your bike to what Irwin did. Motorcycling has a risk element that can never be totaly removed but those risks can be reduced and managed by wearing gear, looking after the bike, training and safe riding procedures and obeying traffic laws etc which all the sensible riders do. Irwin went the other way, he chose to put himself needlessly in danger, he knew the risks, took the chances and his luck ran out. If you see someone on a building-site or a Plant without a hard-hat he is branded an idiot and likely to get sacked, but someone standing next to and hand feeding a hungry 15ft croc gets made out to be a Hero, I just dont get it.
my condolences, sledge i believe his wife and children know their father/husband died doing what he loved doing. im sure his wife knew that before they wed. sure there will be grief, :cry:
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: BAH! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
I heard about this on the news a couple hours ago... DAMNIT!!! DAMNIT STEVE!!! :cry: :cry:
yeah I agree, his wife must have known and accepted the risks he took otherwise she would have walked but thats not gonna stop her and his kids hurting for the rest of their lives. Irwin was no hero, he was a reckless ego-driven Showman who suffered a tragic and needless death as a result of his actions.
I have been looking at some of the tributes left on various forums and boards and its not just me who thinks this way, but I have said enough now.
:thumb:
23s
Sledge, have you ever handled any of the kind of animals that he did? He did what he did in the name of conservation, he wanted to show everyone how beautiful these animals were and to let them know that if they ever saw one it would be best to leave it alone, call pros who know how to handle them - not just to break out a shovel or stick or gun and kill them. The reason he didn't wear gloves is because it is very very difficult to handle snakes while wearing gloves, and gloves won't help against a 500 lb or more croc. That is why he travels in teams with Drs and help. That is why if he goes up against a cobra that he can't identify he whips on glasses and uses a bag or something to distract it so that it can't spit at him and actually hit his eyes. I agree that it was dumb to take his some in the croc pit, really dumb. But i don't think anyone has the right to say he was stupid for doing what he loved, and am sad that he has passed. My condolences are out to his family and friends.
In some ways I liken him to Timothy Threadwell, the Grizzly man... His intentions were good, but they both ended up dead. What a shame.
We all end up dead eventually. I just hope that I die doing something that I'm passionate about and truly believe in and love, rather than just fade away drooling in an ol' folks home.
Quote from: pandy on September 05, 2006, 09:06:17 AM
We all end up dead eventually. I just hope that I die doing something that I'm passionate about and truly believe in and love, rather than just fade away drooling in an ol' folks home.
+1 * a million
yeah, I'm passinate about life and my loved ones... and 44 is still too young to die. Sometimes passion gets in the way of good judgement.
This is really sad... I've always been impressed by him, he seemed to know what he was doing, know a lot about the animals, and to be as careful as one can be in his line of work. In any case, I guess I can't say I'm surprised he died playing with animals.
What's really crazy is sting rays really aren't dangerous creatures. Compared to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, huge ass turtles, and god knows what else he's been known to play with, sting rays are fluffy poodles.
I scuba dive and see sting rays all the time and they are never a concern. Sting rays are passive creatures and their only means of defense is a fairly small stinger at the base of their tail. The only problem I've ever heard of anyone having is accidentally stepping on a sting ray that buried itself in the sand and getting the stinger in their foot. Yeah, it's a trip to the hospital, but not exactly life threatening. It is very difficult and very rare for a sting ray to kill a human. Steve got the stinger right in the heart, talk about really really bad luck.
I don't think its appropriate for a man to be judged by others who did not know him personally. But he showed himself off to the world as a very funny but loving and heartfelt man. My deepest sympathies to to the people who loved him dearly...Teri, Bindy Sue, Bob, his father, other family and friends at the Australia Zoo.
RIP
There's quite a lot of detail on how it happened from the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death) on him. Sounds very graphic, but it's still interesting to read. In the video that shows the whole incident, he was alive just long enough to pull the barb from his chest before he passed. I couldn't even imagine being the camera man that was filming the entire thing.
Dispite being absolutely nuts, he was quite the active naturalist and did a lot for that community. He will be missed for sure. :(
aye he may have been a showman, but also hes done alot for animals in general. what happened to him was a freak accident plain and simple :cry:
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on September 05, 2006, 08:12:14 PM
aye he may have been a showman, but also hes done alot for animals in general. what happened to him was a freak accident plain and simple :cry:
Yeah....Every report I've seen on the news with this expert and that expert....all have agreed that this was an almost freakishly impossible accident.... almost.. :(
Quote from: LimaXray on September 05, 2006, 10:00:17 AM
This is really sad... I've always been impressed by him, he seemed to know what he was doing, know a lot about the animals, and to be as careful as one can be in his line of work. In any case, I guess I can't say I'm surprised he died playing with animals.
What's really crazy is sting rays really aren't dangerous creatures. Compared to alligators, crocodiles, snakes, huge ass turtles, and god knows what else he's been known to play with, sting rays are fluffy poodles.
I scuba dive and see sting rays all the time and they are never a concern. Sting rays are passive creatures and their only means of defense is a fairly small stinger at the base of their tail. The only problem I've ever heard of anyone having is accidentally stepping on a sting ray that buried itself in the sand and getting the stinger in their foot. Yeah, it's a trip to the hospital, but not exactly life threatening. It is very difficult and very rare for a sting ray to kill a human. Steve got the stinger right in the heart, talk about really really bad luck.
As a diver myself I can totally agree. With what I have run into around SC in the Atlantic, Keys and the Bahamas, Rays are not aggressive at all. Matter of fact the most aggressive thing I have run into thus far is a damn Barracuda, and they are more curious than anything unless your spear fishing. Irwin played with animals of all types; the difference between him and most zoos is that he played with them in their own territory, on their field and on their terms. It takes a lot of courage to do what he did, and probably a lot of stupidity when he was younger and learning to handle these animals, but he did it for a few different reasons. One was his love of animals, two was to show the beauty of them, and three was to educate to protect these magnificent creatures. Seeing some of these creatures, especially waterborne, on TV and then to view them in real life in their own natural habitat is something you have to experience to understand. Irwin died doing something he loved, we should all be so lucky..
I find it completely ridiculous that people on this board are disparaging the guy for being "reckless" or having poor judgement or whatever. We all ride motorcycles! Talk all you want about "managing the risks" but the fact of the matter is we all accept a much higher risk to ourselves when we're riding than we would if we just stuck to cars. Hypocrites.
If the accounts are true, the dude was killed in a freak accident, his work with snakes and crocodiles and whatnot would not obviously lead to this happening. Here's a picture of my wife and I looking silly holding a stingray in Grand Cayman. I basically grabbed it for a picture as it swam by. A couple hundred people do it every day down there any nobody ever gets killed.
(http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/995/pb080015webwebef5.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
jeff
He was who he was Jeff, I'm not knocking the guy for the way he died. He was excited, good-intentioned, brave, reckless, and a true daredevil.
Better to die that way, than chugging a bottle every day or hanging yourself in a stairwell somewhere.
You can appreciate what he was, without ignoring the dangerous and self-destructive behavior as well.