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Steve Irwin's Untimely Death
posted Monday, 4 September 2006
A great environmentalist and conservationist of world acclaim is dead!
Steve Irwin aka The Crocodile Hunter was killed by a sting ray when he was filming off the Great Barrier Reef today.
You know, sometimes I wonder at the feebleness of Life and the strangeness of death. Steve had been in numerous close encounters with animals far more deadly and poisonous than stingrays but he managed to survive these scenarios. He was shooting a documentary for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to these stingrays.
From the report of his friend and colleague John Stainton, these sting rays were not even the creatures that Steve was shooting. How instructive that his death came when he was shooting a documentary on deadly creatures. Poetic Justice? Well, call it what you may but consider this nugget of truth by Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin:
"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.."
I am deeply saddened by his demise because I am passionately interested in animals. I am a regular watcher of Animal Planet and the National Geographic Channel, so I have come to idolize this fearless Australian environmentalist who risked life and limb to bring to our TV screens the sights and sounds of the wild. This once again underscores the danger and risk that zoologists and marine ecologists are exposed to as they do their marvellous jobs. This should certainly serve as a warning note to Jack Hanna, Corwin or other talented people who are in the business of handling wildlife.
Crikey! So what are sting rays? From the recently updated Wikipedia page:
"Dasyatidae is a family of rays, cartilaginous marine fishes.
Steve Irwin aka The Crocodile Hunter was killed by a sting ray when he was filming off the Great Barrier Reef today.
You know, sometimes I wonder at the feebleness of Life and the strangeness of death. Steve had been in numerous close encounters with animals far more deadly and poisonous than stingrays but he managed to survive these scenarios. He was shooting a documentary for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to these stingrays. From the report of his friend and colleague John Stainton, these sting rays were not even the creatures that Steve was shooting. How instructive that his death came when he was shooting a documentary on deadly creatures. Poetic Justice? Well, call it what you may but consider this nugget of truth by Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin:
"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.."
I am deeply saddened by his demise because I am passionately interested in animals. I am a regular watcher of Animal Planet and the National Geographic Channel, so I have come to idolize this fearless Australian environmentalist who risked life and limb to bring to our TV screens the sights and sounds of the wild. This once again underscores the danger and risk that zoologists and marine ecologists are exposed to as they do their marvellous jobs. This should certainly serve as a warning note to Jack Hanna, Corwin or other talented people who are in the business of handling wildlife.
Crikey! So what are sting rays? From the recently updated Wikipedia page:
"Dasyatidae is a family of rays, cartilaginous marine fishes.
Their stinger is a razor-sharp, barbed or serrated cartilaginous spine which grows from the ray's whip-like tail (like a fingernail). It is coated with a toxic venom. This gives them their common name of stingrays, but that name can also be used to refer to any poisonous ray."
Leave your comments here (1)
1. mr. X left...
Monday, 4 September 2006 5:12 pm
deep down everybody knew this would happen sooner or later