Unreal Sad news --Steve Irwin dies from Sting Ray wound

[Capt_BJ]

this won't be good for business

 

AP: ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin killed by stingray

 

it's on the major news sites ....

 

a one in a million accident :(

[232271]

I was very shocked by this news.

 

Do people on Stingray tours ever get "stung"?

With so many around how easy is it to possibly step on one? they say that is when you get "stung" per say.

[christineann]

I've never heard of anyone getting hurt at the stingray sandbar. The guides do ask that you be careful not to step on a stingray. When I was there, the stingrays did not settle onto the sandy bottom - they were swimming around the people looking for a squid handout! They were very tame and used to being around humans. Irwin was swimming in the open ocean and probably encountered a ray that was not familiar with humans. I plan to go to the sandbar again - a great experience!

 

Sad for Irwin and his family. He died doing something he loved.

[hilltopfamily]

Yikes! I'm now rethinking our excursion plans. I'm sure this news will add quite a scare for my kids (ages 9-15) and I don't know that they'll be easily convinced not to be scared and to enter the water. I've read that it is a bit intimidating as an excursion in the first place, but now with this latest news, I'm a little concerned. What to do, what to do......

[losuds63]

Updated: 21 minutes ago

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CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

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.

“He came on top of the stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said Stainton, who was on board Irwin’s boat at the time.

Story continues below ↓ advertisement ad_dap(250,300,'&PG=NBCMSN&AP=1089');

 

 

Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword “Crikey!” in his television program “Crocodile Hunter.” First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.

He rode his image into a feature film, 2002’s “The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course” and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.

“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet,” Stainton told reporters in Cairns. “He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, ’Crocs Rule!”’

'A huge loss to Australia'

Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was “shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin’s sudden, untimely and freakish death.”

“It’s a huge loss to Australia,” Howard told reporters. “He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people.”

Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.

His ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.

Irwin’s public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.

'Extraordinarily bad luck'

Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

“It was extraordinarily bad luck. It’s not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare,” Collin said.

News of Irwin’s death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.

At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.

“Steve, from all God’s creatures, thank you. Rest in peace,” was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.

“We’re all very shocked. I don’t know what the zoo will do without him. He’s done so much for us, the environment and it’s a big loss,” said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.

Stainton said Irwin’s American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin’s Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the “Crocodile Huntress,” she costarred on her husband’s television show and in his 2002 movie.

[232271]

Yikes! I'm now rethinking our excursion plans. I'm sure this news will add quite a scare for my kids (ages 9-15) and I don't know that they'll be easily convinced not to be scared and to enter the water. I've read that it is a bit intimidating as an excursion in the first place, but now with this latest news, I'm a little concerned. What to do, what to do......

 

If you think your kids might be scared now, you might want to change plans. I am 38 and a little worried even though this is "rare" it does happen. I am sure the stingrays at the reef are "tame" after millions of visitors have touched them. I might sit my kids down and talk with them and ask them how they feel and explain how it just happened that the stingray pierced his heart. Most likey you can get "cut" by one elsewhere, but this was just bad luck (and sad) that it hit his heart. :(

Prayers go out to his family!

[Laurab23]

My SO says no way will he even consider doing this now. I did almost have him convinced to try snorkeling with the stingrays but not now.Guess we'll have to come up with something else for Grand Caymen.

 

Laura

[swom]

Anyone who ever watched the "Croc Hunter" knows that he took some really crazy chances. That's the way he lived and I'll bet that's the way he died too.

Don't consider cancelling your excursion to swim with the Sting-Rays. They are very gentle creatures and it's a once in a life time experience. I throughly enjoyed the experience and I'm sure you all will to if you give it a chance.

[arizdback]

Please don't post assumptions at this time. There are numerous reports that he was simply swimming over top of a ray that was buried in the sand. I would hardly call that taking chances.

[Matomatic]

I did the Stingray City excursion back in July. These Ray's are very, very tame and gentle. One of the guides with us held one, as did I, and even ran her hand up and down the Ray's tail, where the barb is located.

The Ray's here are used to humans and are only interested in being fed. The only real danger at the sandbar is if you step on the tail of one of the Ray's, however, that wouldn't be fatal, just painful.

Steve Irwin died because of a freakish accident. While swimming with Ray's that are not used to being around humans, and that is the key here, he got too close and the barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, pierced his heart. Very, very unfortunate and rare accident.

When I go to Cayman next summer, I plan on going to Stingray City again.

[losuds63]

Hiding in the sand they are all swimming around looking for food and --This should not stop people from going on these tours ---Did everybody stop flying on planes in the past few weeks I think not --you have a better chance of lightning strikes then this happening to anyone on a vacation ---there is tragic news in every aspect of life ---the Princess listed are you not cruising anymore ---The plan crash a few weeks ago didnt put the airlines out of business ---shall i keep going ----What tragic news have you herd in the last 30 years that stopped you from doing any activity in this world :rolleyes:

 

When we went on Nativeway stingray tour we all held the stingrays as large as a 42 inch flat screen tv it was the greatest thing ..

[christineann]

We were on the Nativeway excursion, which had about 10 passengers. A ship excursion from another cruiseline pulled up with over 100 people and when the rays approached the first dozen to get in the water, there was screaming and mass hysteria. I can only wonder if they had been told what to expect. I am TERRIFIED of crabs (don't know why), but this was fantastic, and I will never forget how incredible it was.

[cruisejunkie2]

I Went To Grand Cayman Last Year And Was Pissed Off That My Cruise Mates Did Not Want To Do The Stingray Tour. I Rebooked That Itinerary To Swim With The Rays And In Dec On The Victory I Will Be Swimming With The Rays!! What Else Is There To Do In Grand Cayman?? The Trip To Hell Was A Joke!

[christineann]

cruisejunkie2, I would strongly suggest a private excursion as opposed to a ship one. The ship excursions were so crowded that it took a very long time for the people to get in the water because of all the people who freaked out. It looked like that beach scene in Jaws.

 

Nativeway, Captain Marvin's, etc. do the excursion with a fraction of the number of passengers and for about half the price of the ship's.

 

I'm sure there are other fun things to do in GC. I've heard the shopping is good....not something we are into though.

 

Have a great time - I can't wait to go back.

[D4]

Ship tours aren't always overcrowded. We took a Carnival excursion in June and there were about 24 people on the boat. The guides were awesome. I'd go with the ship again because we were able to get there before all the other boats came.

[Noblarneyimirish]

We'll be in Cayen in October. The eight of us were plannning on doing the stingray swim. This morning I get a call from one of my cruisemates telling me she won't do the swim because a family friend passed away over the weekend. She was stung by a stingray. Had an allergic reaction and died. I had her convinced that was something that was very rare. Now, 2 other cruise mates called me because this story was released on the same day. :(

This is a sad story.

[MamaParrotHead]

Yikes! I'm now rethinking our excursion plans. I'm sure this news will add quite a scare for my kids (ages 9-15) and I don't know that they'll be easily convinced not to be scared and to enter the water. I've read that it is a bit intimidating as an excursion in the first place, but now with this latest news, I'm a little concerned. What to do, what to do......

 

I just convinced our party of 3 others to do the stingrays. Now I'm really nervous about it. Not to mention I have to figure out how to tell my 6 year old.:(

[momof4boys]

Our group of 15 visited the Stingray Sandbar of July 5. It was fantastic. I am not a thrill seeker at all but did not find it scary! The rays are very tame. One ray swam right between my 13yo's legs and surprised him! The animals were all so gentle.

 

I am so sad about Steve..my whole familiy feels like they have lost a friend. However, it truly was a freak accident. I would go again, and again I would be careful to follow the guide's directions. There are always some idiots running after the rays and knocking into people. I hope those folks think twice about being careful! They are the ones to cause problems, not the rays.

[swom]

Please don't post assumptions at this time. There are numerous reports that he was simply swimming over top of a ray that was buried in the sand. I would hardly call that taking chances.

I'm very sorry that you took offense to my post. The news tonight on both NBC and CBS said what I said though. He took chances and this time, it didn't pay off. His luck ran out.

What I found out on these news shows and didn't know, was that he was a great conservationist. He put everything back into conservation and educating the public on marine wildlife.

He seemed like a great father to his little girl. My heart just breaks for her. She seemed to really adore him and him, her.

I still hope everyone will still do the stringray adventure. You will enjoy it I'm sure. These are docile creatures by nature and the ones at Stringray City are there because they know you will feed them. If you cancel, you miss out on a great adventure. The one that got Steve Irwin was come upon unexpectantly and startled. Thus the attack. It is truly ashame that he died this way, but he died the way he lived and I'm sure that's the way he would prefer it.

[masonpips]

My son (5 at the time) was scratched by a stingray at Grand Cayman back in 2002. They do get excited and swim around you looking for the squid handout and his tail just happened to brush my son's legs. Now, he's had far worse scratches from running through trees w/small branches but he did slightly freakout (salt water sting isn't the most pleasant). None of that is stopping any of us from visiting again in 6 weeks. They are wonderful creatures and I think the chances of getting seriously harmed, if you follow the guides instructions, are far less than other injuires.

 

I *hate* flying (have had the oxygen masks come down during flight, on another flight hit by lightning and another with a VERY wild take-off at DFW once) but I still fly. Life is too short to stop living and again, I don't know of ANYONE seriously harmed at Stingray City (versus a completely "wild" spot)

[yummykaz]

I really adored our guides at Nativeway and hope it does not hurt Sheldon or Everton's business.

 

We were just there in June...my whole family loved it.

[yummykaz]

they do not ALL kill...here is a sweet one

 

[argoisin]

These stingrays are most definately gentle animals. However, humans are not always so gentle. With the hundreds of people visiting Stingray City Sandbar in the Cayman Islands, I am surprised that more accidents haven't happened. When we were there I was more amazed at the amount of people 'flailing' around in the water trying to get close to a stingray without any regard to their own safety or the people around them. It is this type of behavior that I believe is more dangerous than these gentle creatures living within their own environment. If you want to be scared of something that would cause you to cancel your trip. Be scared of 'Joe Schmo' who comes barrelling off his boat, knocking you down so he can get the perfect picture... These are the 'dangerous creatures' I worry about.:eek:

[TanIslandGirl]

The Stingray City excursion in Grand Cayman is a "Not To Miss" excursion.

My family has done this in both the Bahamas & in Grand Cayman. In GC it was one of the most amazing things we have ever experienced. We are returning to GC in January and plan to do it again. If this is something you had wanted to do before this tragedy happened please go through with your plans. You will enjoy it.:)

[Too blessed to be stressed]

On my last cruise they flew a lady out who got a barb in the leg. I think she stepped on it. Not from caymen islands, I think it was roatan. Theese things do happen, just thought it was weird that happened and we saw her and talked to her before she saw the dr. on the boat. Just wondering how often these things do happen and we just don't know about it. I am still planning on visiting the rays in Grandcaymen.