Croakey!Steve Irwin, the "Crikey!"-spouting, Australian naturalist known as The Crocodile Hunter, was killed just over two hours ago as I write this.
Filming an underwater documentary off the low isles at Port Douglas, reportedly the result of taking a stingray barb to the chest. Early speculation is that it was very near the heart and that he must have had a reaction to the venom.I wouldn't have quickly guessed a stingray, but when I heard he'd died my first thought was "what killed him?" Seeing him in close quarters with venomous snakes and spiders and huge crocodiles, I didn't figure he was going to die in bed.
Sometimes he was a trifle hard to take, but his enthusiasm always rang genuine and his almost mad antics with often dangerous creatures made him a natural both for television and as a sort of wildlife ambassador for Australia.
I expect programming marathons and tributes on Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel, etc. possibly as soon as today.
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Comments
I'm torn. On the one hand, it is a sad thing. On the other, well, as you've noted by implication, Mike, if you mess with the bull...
Considering all the creatures he's gotten close to, though, a stingray taking him down was a surprise.
he even sent him fan letters, and got personal answers in return!
I feel bad for any man who dies too young, and I feel bad for the boy who will miss him badly.
J.
Still, it was a dangerous line of work, and he died doing something he apparently loved -- so the sense of tragedy is dulled considerably by all that.
No you didn't? It's incredibly hard to hold my nose and type one-handed!
I had the same thought when I first heard the news. Figuring a snake or a gater.
Once again, your presumptions were right on, as Animal Planet was running stuff all day yesterday.
"Croakey". Really, Mike.
It was surprising how quickly the word got around, and as it was real news just past 2am here I wanted to throw up a quick post.
After that, Blogger was giving me problems, including freezing up after I'd cobbled together a post on something else but before I'd saved it. Took the wind out of my sails.
"Gigantic," though has me wondering what resolution your screen's set at. Mine's set to 1152 x 864, and I wish blogger's font size (and font selection) settings gave me more range as I'd sometimes like to use larger and more tailored headers without having to think about crafting them as a graphic I'd need to import.
I've dropped an update post in place, though, and depending on how the day goes I might bury Steve a little farther down the page before Thursday's through.