Reply to: Steve Irwin killed by stingray

[Clownio]

[QUOTE=Rantor]

Not as good as my Panda Kebab I bet.....

Well that was irresponsible of you. Don't you know they're an endangered species ?

Oh and by the way - I've been to Stingray City a number of times when in the Cayman Islands and they are definitely Stingrays. So there !

[Rantor]

[QUOTE=Paddy]

Yeh, yeh, yeh, and I must have had stingray and chips list night.

Not as good as my Panda Kebab I bet.....

[Paddy]

[QUOTE=Rantor]

They are stringrays. I've dived there just next to the place where the pics are taken, and they are stingray's with intact stingers. I had a chat with a local diver who showed me his sting scars (basically conical holes in your flesh a bit like really scabby junkies have.)

I've swam alongside these animals in various places worldwide and never really considered getting offed by one. In fact, didn't even know you could! Steve Irwin - one statistically unfortunate guy.

Now Stonefish, they're a different thing altogether....

Yeh, yeh, yeh, and I must have had stingray and chips list night.

[Rantor]

[QUOTE=Pinto]

Googled this:

Skates can be further distinguished from stingrays as they possess two dorsal fins on the tail, have a distinct caudal fin, possess thorns on the tail, and lack poisonous serrated spines on the tail. Stingrays possess one or no dorsal fins, and their whiplike tails are usually armed with one or more serrated spines that possess venom-producing goblet cells located along the length of ventral grooves of the spine.


There's no way anybody would risk tourist interaction with venomous stingrays. That's just what I think, I may be wrong.

They are stringrays. I've dived there just next to the place where the pics are taken, and they are stingray's with intact stingers. I had a chat with a local diver who showed me his sting scars (basically conical holes in your flesh a bit like really scabby junkies have.)

I've swam alongside these animals in various places worldwide and never really considered getting offed by one. In fact, didn't even know you could! Steve Irwin - one statistically unfortunate guy.

Now Stonefish, they're a different thing altogether....

[Pinto]

[QUOTE=CaribbeanPirate]

So for years they have got the name Stingray City wrong?

Stingray City Trips

Googled this:

Skates can be further distinguished from stingrays as they possess two dorsal fins on the tail, have a distinct caudal fin, possess thorns on the tail, and lack poisonous serrated spines on the tail. Stingrays possess one or no dorsal fins, and their whiplike tails are usually armed with one or more serrated spines that possess venom-producing goblet cells located along the length of ventral grooves of the spine.


There's no way anybody would risk tourist interaction with venomous stingrays. That's just what I think, I may be wrong.

[CaribbeanPirate]

[QUOTE=Pinto]

I think those are skates, not stingrays. They are not venomous.

So for years they have got the name Stingray City wrong?

Stingray City Trips

[Pinto]

[QUOTE=Phoenix]

He must have up set them quite a lot.

Our stingray's are tame.



This is not good! why are tourists encouraged to disturb these creatures?
And I bet they know nothing of the risk!

Phoenix in PADI mode

I think those are skates, not stingrays. They are not venomous.

[TheScarletPimp]

... that other, less presenters, just do not seem to understand. His wife and family must be going through an untold of misery and despair right now.

He lived more of his life in his 40 odd years than many people do in double that time. God bless you Steve.

I presume you meant lesser there. You mean lesser, living presenters?

Perhaps he should have had a bit more thought for his family and been a little safer and less reckless with his own life? I saw the clip tonight where he was taunting a crocodile whilst holding his one month old son. Makes him a bit of a pillock in my book, endangering his own son in that way.

It's all very sad of course but he was the author of his own destruction.

TSP

[Alf W]

"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 Mr Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

From Sky News website. Guess that's what annoyed it then?

Go on, admit it. How many off us now feel guilty that we watched every one of his programmes sat there thinking, "go on, have him!"

Great bloke, for an Aussie.

[PropertyCrashUK]

BECAUSE he was so Aussie and so passionate, just about everything Steve Irwin said made for good quotes. Here's some of the best:

"Yeah, for some reason parrots have to bite me. That's their job. I don't know why that is. They've nearly torn my nose off. I've had some really bad parrot bites."

"Crikey means gee whiz, wow!"

"Crikey, mate. You're far safer dealing with crocodiles and western diamondback rattlesnakes than the executives and the producers and all those sharks in the big MGM building."

"Because when they strike it can be that quick that if they're within range, you're dead, you're dead in your tracks. And his head weighs more than my body so it's WHACK!"

"I bled a lot. I got hit across the face. We couldn't film for seven days. I got hit, whacked, underwater, across the face. I finished the shot, got into the boat and blood started coming out."

"I get called an adrenaline junkie every other minute, and I'm just fine with that."

"I have no fear of losing my life – if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."

"I mean, these are all just little pink bits here (pointing at his arm) and are just curing up now. I've been recently filming a nine-and-a-half-foot female crocodile I had to catch. Oh, man, she bit me up! That was a mistake."

"But I put my life on the line to save animals."

"Every cent we earn from Crocodile Hunter goes straight back into conservation. Every single cent."

"Herein lies our problem. If we level that much land to grow rice and whatever, then no other animal could live there except for some insect pest species. Which is very unfortunate."

"I am optimistic globally. So many scientists are working frantically on the reparation of our planet."

"I believe our biggest issue is the same biggest issue that the whole world is facing, and that's habitat destruction."

"I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message."

"I sincerely believe that there's room for cutting down trees for forestry and grazing, so as we all get to eat. Everyone has to compromise."

"My belief is that what comes across on the television is a capture of my enthusiasm and my passion for wildlife."

"My dad taught me from my youngest childhood memories through these connections with Aboriginal and tribal people that you must always protect people's sacred status, regardless of the pest."

"No, snakes are no problem. I'd go to any country, anywhere, any snakes, not a problem."

"See, I've always seen Jacques Cousteau as a hero, mate. He's a legend – like my dad, just a legend. And so what he did for conservation in the '60s through the '70s was just phenomenal."



"Sharks, I've been self-trained as well, and crocodiles, naturally. I've been catching them since I was nine. No problem."



"Since I was a boy, from this house, I was out rescuing crocodiles and snakes. My mum and dad were very passionate about that and, I was lucky enough to go along."



"So fear helps me from making mistakes, but I make lot of mistakes."

"The only animals I'm not comfortable with are parrots, but I'm learning as I go. I'm getting better and better at 'em. I really am."

"Yeah, for some reason parrots have to bite me. That's their job. I don't know why that is. They've nearly torn my nose off. I've had some really bad parrot bites."

"When I talk to the camera, mate, it's not like I'm talking to the camera, I'm talking to you because I want to whip you around and plunk you right there with me."

"Where I live if someone gives you a hug it's from the heart."

"You know, I'm Australian, and we have got the worst sense of humour. We are cruel to each other."

[PropertyCrashUK]

God bless

Doubly tragic considering the photos in this thread of those people with the stingrays - are there different kinds of stingrays, some more aggressive/dangerous than others?

Wildlife progs won't be the same without him as others will now seem tame by comparission. I have to say I used to watch his progs with a mixture of awe, respect, thinking that an animal would 'get him' anyday soon but, boy, he brought a new energy and interest into the animal kingdom that other, less presenters, just do not seem to understand. His wife and family must be going through an untold of misery and despair right now.

He lived more of his life in his 40 odd years than many people do in double that time. God bless you Steve.

[CaribbeanPirate]

They have been running trips to Stingray City on Grand Cayman for something like 10 years. The only time I remeber anyone getting hurt was last year when one of the boats fell over on the way back.

We get the odd fat / old Americans drowning when snorkelling; but most of the injuries are sun-burn and sea itch.

[Phoenix]

[QUOTE=CaribbeanPirate]He must have up set them quite a lot.

Our stingray's are tame.



This is not good! why are tourists encouraged to disturb these creatures?
And I bet they know nothing of the risk!

Phoenix in PADI mode

[Phoenix]

Humans are usually stung in the foot; it is also possible, although less likely, to be stung by brushing against the stinger. Contact with the stinger causes local trauma (from the cut itself), pain and swelling from the venom, and possible infection from parts of the stinger left in the wound, as well as from seawater entering the wound. Injuries to humans include, but are not limited to, venomization, punctures, severed arteries and possible death though extremely unlikely. Fatal stings, such as that which killed Australian naturalist and TV-personality Steve Irwin , are extremely rare (as of 1996, worldwide known deaths from stingray barb injuries numbered 17), but can occur if a sting punctures the heart or chest, causing complications due to both the sting's location and the poison in the barbs.

[Mailman]

Having dived 'with' stingrays in the past this was a highly unlikely and unlucky accident. Considering his past exploits with snakes and crocs it came as a complete shock that he'd get done by a ray.

I think only one other person has been done in by a stingray before?

Mailman