Of course, by now everyone has heard about Steve Irwin's unusual death. But what was Irwin -- a man known to take risks on land -- doing in the water? After all, his shows describe terrestrial animals: usually, he leaves the underwater stuff to folks like Cousteau. According to people on the boat, Irwin had been looking for a well-known pair of giant stonefish that live in the area. Unable to find them and because of poor weather, Irwin decided to investigate a report of "a lot of stingrays" in the shallows of nearby Batt Reef. Sadly, the biologist who was trying to show Irwin the stonefish claims that if he had been able to spot them, "Steve would have concentrated on them and not gone after the rays." This Monday-morning quarterbacking, of course, is pointless, and I hope he doesn't blame himself for Irwin's bizarre death.
Although some have wondered if Irwin was killed by poison on the ray's barb, local officials announced that Irwin died as a result of being struck in the heart by the the barb -- not because of any poison. Moreover, they have determined "There is no evidence that Mr Irwin was threatening or intimidating the stingray." Instead, it appears it was a case of bad, sad timing.
Interestingly, Irwin's manager John Stainton claims that if Irwin "was going to go, we always said it was going to be in the ocean. On land he was agile, quick-thinking, quick-moving, and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over."
1. Interesting qoute from Irwin re. the water. Any show where he was in the water always seemed a tad awkward for him.
Posted at 12:37PM on Sep 8th 2006 by Eric Brodeur