one of the saddest day in my life...

[Gobbla2001]

the man who inspired me to try and ride an alligator before I pass was stung by a stingray and died :(

he would have wanted it to be a croc :(

[Ranger Mom]

It is a sad day indeed....we have a "interesting" thread dedicated to him!

[SnyTigBaseB07]

i know this is semi-silly to say, but i am actually gonna miss him i loved watching him run around crocs and who can forget "CRIKEY! SHES A BEAUT!"


RIP Steve!

[carter08]

"interesting" is an understatement

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by carter08
"interesting" is an understatement

It's a slow day....and it's cold and rainy here!!

[carter08]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
It's a slow day....and it's cold and rainy here!!

its hot and dry here

[lostaussie]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
the man who inspired me to try and ride an alligator before I pass was stung by a stingray and died :(

he would have wanted it to be a croc :( i think you should go "saddle up". might make you feel better:D

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by lostaussie
i think you should go "saddle up". might make you feel better:D

maybe so, I have two days to recover from bites/missing limbs etc...

there was a 15-footer down at the river a few weeks back, may go find him :mad:

[Ranger Mom]

I have heard horror stories about the pain of a stingray!

I just hope, since it was straight in the heart, that he didn't suffer!!

[injuredinmelee]

what are the chances that this was caught on tape? I dont know if I could stand to watch it.

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
what are the chances that this was caught on tape? I dont know if I could stand to watch it.

It is on tape. The film crew were the one's that pulled him back to the boat in a great effort to save his life.

[maroogreen]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
the man who inspired me to try and ride an alligator before I pass was stung by a stingray and died :(

he would have wanted it to be a croc :(

Strangely enough, when Gobbla was my student, he used to imitate Steve Irwin and his accent all the time. I didn't even know who he was talking about, so I searched the satellite until I found the Crocodile Hunter. So in a weird way, Gobbla is responsible for a small part of Irwin's success.

I seem to recall a photo of gobbla involving a blow-up crocodile/khaki shorts, etc.... Do you remember this Gobbla?

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by maroogreen


I seem to recall a photo of gobbla involving a blow-up crocodile/khaki shorts, etc.... Do you remember this Gobbla?

Actually I think it was a stuffed-animal crocodile...

I forgot all about that...

You had us shoot a video, forget what for, and I chose to be the crocodile hunter so we took it to the lake and I dove on it so I could put a top-jaw rope on it...

I think that was the most unsuccessful thing I've ever done...

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by maroogreen
Strangely enough, when Gobbla was my student, he used to imitate Steve Irwin and his accent all the time. I didn't even know who he was talking about, so I searched the satellite until I found the Crocodile Hunter. So in a weird way, Gobbla is responsible for a small part of Irwin's success.

I seem to recall a photo of gobbla involving a blow-up crocodile/khaki shorts, etc.... Do you remember this Gobbla?
.
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Great post!
Now Gobbla just went from "HoF" to "Legendary".;)
Gotta love teachers posting here.:) :clap: :cool:

[SintonFan]

Yes, I miss the guy too. He did what many of us wouldn't do time and time again. He taught us that the Aussies weren't wusses. They did what they believed in, no matter what.

[Gobbla2001]

man I'm sittin' here laughing my rearend off thinking about that... that was so stupid ha

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
man I'm sittin' here laughing my rearend off thinking about that... that was so stupid ha
.
lol
It's sounds like fun to me. Good times indeed.:clap:

[maroogreen]

You're right. It was a video. You had to film a 30-second commercial for your sports drink "advertising campaign". I had totally forgotten about it, but when you posted about Irwin, I had a bizarre flash of a picture of you and a croc--wierd how the brain works, huh?

BTW, Gobbla has always been one of my favorite former students--quite an accomplishment as I've had many "fun personalities" with me through the years.

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by maroogreen
You're right. It was a video. You had to film a 30-second commercial for your sports drink "advertising campaign". I had totally forgotten about it, but when you posted about Irwin, I had a bizarre flash of a picture of you and a croc--wierd how the brain works, huh?

BTW, Gobbla has always been one of my favorite former students--quite an accomplishment as I've had many "fun personalities" with me through the years.

YES, that's right, a Sports drink... our drink helped Steve Irwin become one bad mofo...

And thanks for the kind words, you were always my favorite teacher/librarian :D

[luvhoops34]

Isn't there already a thread on Steve Irwin? Shouldn't this one be merged with the other one? Especially since they are both non football.

[Gobbla2001]

NO, this one is about the saddest day in my life evers :( :( :(

[luvhoops34]

Sad day for me too. I was/am a big fan of Steve Irwin!

[luvhoops34]

Here's an article from USA Today



Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, poses with a three-foot-long alligator at the San Francisco Zoo in 2002.

By Justin Sullivan, Getty Images


Irwin's last minutes of struggle caught on tape
Updated 9/5/2006 11:04 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this


RAYS' TAILS RARELY DEADLY

There are many of species of stingray, at least 35 in the area where adventurer Steve Irwin was killed Monday.

Though the one responsible for his death is not yet known, some experts suspect the bull ray.

Such a species "can grow up to 7 feet across, 100 to 200 pounds, with a tail about 3 to 4 feet long," says Ray Davis of the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. "The spine or spines are near the base of the tail in a shallow groove. They can whip that tail, swing it or slash with it to fend off a predator."

Since 1860, 17 people have been killed by stingrays worldwide, says Mike Brittsan, curator at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio. "Most are to the trunk area when a stinger hits a vital organ. Steve Irwin got hit in the wrong place."

-- Cathy Lynn Grossman and Karen Thomas




KEY DATES IN IRWIN'S LIFE

Feb. 22, 1962: Stephen Robert Irwin is born near Melbourne.

Feb. 22, 1968: Irwin receives a 12-foot-long scrub python for his 6th birthday.

1980s: Irwin volunteers for Queensland's crocodile relocation program, trapping problem crocodiles.

1991: Irwin takes over his father's reptile park when his parents retire and begins building Australia Zoo into a tourist icon.

1991: Irwin marries Terri Raines, a tourist from Eugene, Ore. Footage from their honeymoon becomes the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter in Australia.

1992: The Crocodile Hunter is picked up by the Discovery Network, shown worldwide.

2001: Irwin makes a cameo in the Eddie Murphy film Dr. Dolittle 2, in which he attempts to wrestle an alligator and loses an arm.

2002: Irwin releases his first feature film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

Oct. 2003: Prime Minister John Howard invites Irwin to lunch with President Bush in Canberra.

Jan. 2004: Irwin provokes an international outcry after being filmed holding his 1-month-old son, Bob, while feeding a snapping crocodile.

June 2004: Irwin is investigated for a possible criminal breach of Australian wildlife laws after allegedly clowning around with whales and penguins while filming a documentary in Antarctica. He is cleared of wrongdoing.

Sept. 4, 2006: Irwin is fatally stabbed in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a television segment on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.





From staff and wire reports

Steve Irwin's deadly encounter with a stingray was captured on dramatic videotape and shows TV's "Crocodile Hunter" pulling out the animal's poisonous barb that had pierced his heart moments before he died, officials said today.
The beloved naturalist was being videotaped snorkeling above the beast for Ocean's Deadliest, a new TV documentary. Queensland Police Superintendent Michael Keating said the footage showed nothing suspicious about Irwin's death nor evidence that he provoked the animal. Police held the tape as evidence for a coroner's inquiry, a standard procedure in high-profile deaths or those caused by other than natural causes.

News of Irwin's death shocked his native Australia, and fans around the world poured out their grief and condolences.

Parliament interrupted its normal schedule so lawmakers could pay tribute to Irwin, whose body was flown home to Beerwah today from Cairns. State Premier Peter Beattie said Irwin would be afforded a state funeral if his family agreed.

"He was a genuine, one-off, remarkable Australian individual, and I am distressed at his death," Prime Minister John Howard said.

The colorful 44-year-old Irwin, who made a career out of getting dangerously close to deadly beasts, was killed while swimming in shallow water on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

John Stainton, Irwin's manager who was among the crew on the reef and later also watched the videotape of the attack, described the "terrible" experience of watching a friend die.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone," Stainton told reporters in the Queensland state city of Cairns, where Irwin's body had been taken after the accident for an autopsy.

Human deaths caused by stingrays are extremely rare.

Stainton said that Irwin was in his element in the Outback, but that he and Irwin had talked about the sea posing threats the star wasn't used to.

"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be the ocean," Stainton said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking (and) quick-moving, and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over."

Immediately after the attack, Irwin was rushed to his nearby research vessel, the Croc One.

A doctor aboard the ship was unable to resuscitate Irwin, who was dead by the time a rescue helicopter arrived. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind," Stainton said.

Irwin's American wife, Terri, and children returned late Monday from a trekking vacation in Tasmania to Australia Zoo, the wildlife park in Beerwah where the family lived. The couple, who met at Irwin's wildlife park in the Australian state of Queensland, have two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Bob, 2.

Australia Zoo was open today — staff said it was what he would have wanted — but the mood was somber and most visitors were to a makeshift shrine of bouquets and handwritten condolence messages that emerged at the gate.

"Mate, you made the world a better place," read one poster left at the gate. "Steve, our hero, our legend, our wildlife warrior," read another. Khaki shirts — a trademark of Irwin — were laid out for people to sign.

Sue Neilen, Beerwah's only florist, said she has a "huge pile of orders" for flowers from conservation groups and the general public all over the world.

"Some people are telling us they've never bought flowers before to do this sort of thing, but they feel compelled to do it for Steve," Neilen said. "It's like when Lady Diana died."

Irwin — an adventurer famous for leaping onto untethered crocodiles and for his catchphrase "Crikey!" — rose to prominence when his 1992 Australian TV show was picked up by the Discovery Channel in 1996. He made his big-screen splash with 2002's The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. The TV show went into reruns in 2004 but remained one of the network's most popular programs, airing in 130 countries. Discovery announced plans for a marathon screening of Irwin's work and a wildlife fund in his name.

"Steve was beloved by millions of fans and animal lovers around the world and was one of our planet's most passionate conservationists," Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks, said in a statement.

The company said it would rename the garden space in front of its world headquarters building in Silver Spring, Md., to honor Irwin. Animal Planet also is planning a marathon of Crocodile Hunter shows, but the day has not been decided.

Irwin's daring encounters and on-camera exuberance not only brought him worldwide celebrity, but they also created a cottage industry of guerrilla-style conservationists whose close calls made wildlife shows a TV staple, particularly among children.

"I never pictured a croc killing him, but I never pictured a stingray doing it, either," says Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio. "It's like me getting killed by a poodle."

"Steve might have been a showman, but he was a great conservationist," Hanna says. He notes that 14 years ago, before Irwin's international success, there were two nationally televised wildlife shows. Now there are 29.

"We can agree or disagree on how he taught conservationism," Hanna says. "I couldn't do what he did. But he did have a way of teaching. And in the end I remember him as a conservationist, because he really believed in what he did."

Irwin's exuberant style occasionally irked wildlife officials. In 2004, he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin said 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 government investigation recommended that no action be taken.

"I think (the criticism) was from misunderstanding him and how he grew up around these animals," says Maureen Smith, executive vice president and general manager of Animal Planet. "He was the real deal. He had a love of family and animals that transcended his show. He became a part of pop culture."

Stainton, fighting back tears in a televised news conference, called Irwin "a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet. " He would have said, "Crocs rule!"