Oops!

Or,.."Live by the Sword,..."

'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin Killed by Stingray on Great Barrier Reef
Monday, September 04, 2006

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 barb 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.

(snip)

Grrr! Don't Fool With Mother Nature
Monday, September 04, 2006
By Mike Straka

Rest in peace, Crocodile Hunter.

I don't mean to be insensitive, but it was only a matter of time before we would be reading headlines like those we woke up to on Labor Day, which announced the death of environmentalist and wildlife crusader Steve Irwin.

The Australian, best known from television as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday when he was pierced through the heart by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef while filming an underwater documentary.

(snip)

Tragic? Not at all.

I didn't know Mr. Irwin, but as so many of his family, friends and fans know, if Steve Irwin had to die at the young age of 44, this is probably how he'd have wanted to go.

Irwin had such a passion for wildlife that he always put his personal safety on the shelf.