In news that's dominating this traditionally newsless US holiday weekend, the famed and somewhat insane Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, has died to, of all things, a stingray barb. He was not exactly a celebrity, but he was internationally-known, enough so to warrant
an obit in the London Times:
As the exuberant, golden-haired, khaki-wearing and apparently fearless Crocodile Hunter, he got very close to — and even wrestled — numerous apex predators. His unscripted narration was punctuated with "Crikey!" and "Look at this beauty!"
...Irwin was typically to be seen crawling towards wild crocodiles, snakes, goannas and spiders, among many other animals.
"I would never blame an animal if it bit me, that is for sure," he said to one interviewer, "because I’m at fault, not them". He later estimated that he had been bitten more than 1,000 times. He was sanguine as ever when his leg was "chomped" by a saltwater crocodile and needed 12 stitches. "I heal so quickly," he said. "I tell you what, if you cut my arm off I would grow a new one."
His most (in)famous moment is pictured here, when he did his usual "feed the crocs" show at the zoo, while cradling his infant son in one arm.
At the time I joined most people in thinking he was insane, but in retrospect I'll grant that he knew what he was doing. After all, Irwin had spent more time around crocodiles than almost anyone, and he'd probably done that raw chicken bit in his zoo a thousand times, without incident. The animal in this instance was basically a trained zoo performer, and Irwin knew how fast a croc could lunge, how high it could jump, that it would go for the chicken and not him, etc. So no, his kid probably wasn't in any danger, but that doesn't make the whole thing any more reasonable. It's not like the infant gained anything from the experience of being tucked under dad's arm like a football and swung about while a big lizard snarled and a crowd of hundreds gasped at Irwin's lapse in judgment.
As for his death, it's both tragic and ridiculous. I don't imagine too many people were shocked to hear that the Crocodile Hunter died to an animal, but a stingray? I'd have bet on a snake getting him, personally. He had tons of near-misses with his patented bare-handed pick up technique, and it seemed only a matter of time until he slipped or misplayed and got a bite to the face from something slithery and venomous. Instead he got nailed by a stingray, an animal that has a dangerous barbed tail, but which
almost never uses it for more than injuring someone's ankle.
Stingrays are placid fish whose larger species are occasionally known to tolerate the efforts of gung-ho scuba divers to "hitch a ride" by clinging to their fins. But when the usually non-aggressive creatures feel threatened or are trodden on, they are capable of delivering horrific, agonising injuries by lashing out with the razor-sharp, barbed sting at the end of their tails.
The barbs, which grow out of the bayonet-like fingernails, are designed to snag in the flesh of the ray's unwary victim. Each barb is serrated and can be up to 20cm (8ins) long, and is coated with a paralysing toxin which the ray secretes along two grooves in its tail.
...Victoria Brims, a shark and stingray expert, has said that Irwin’s death was only the third known stingray death in Australian waters. An Aboriginal boy died several years ago, while the previous record death was in Melbourne in 1945. Only 17 such deaths have ever been recorded worldwide.
The medical report says that Irwin got plunged right through the heart. I can see him floating above the animal, pointing down with many a bubbly "Crikey!" and then bang, something startled the ray and it zoomed away, lashing out with the tail as it went. And by a freak accident, it happened to bang Irwin in about the only place it could have killed him.
The question now is were they filming, and will they show the footage at some point. The answer to the first question is,
yes!
The events were caught on camera, and the footage was handed to the Queensland Police. After reviewing the footage of the incident and speaking to the cameraman who recorded it, marine documentary filmmaker and fisherman Ben Cropp speculated that the stingray "felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead."
As to when/if the footage will air, there's no word yet. You know Irwin would want it shown since he documented everything he did, and showed all his screw ups and errors. His wife and kids might feel differently, given the outcome of events, but I'm not speaking for them. If it were on though, could you turn away? I would have to watch it; I mean hell, you know the guy's actually going to die at the end of the show, how can you change the channel?
Overall, I'm actually sad about this, unlike 99% of the other "celebrity" deaths I hear about. I enjoyed Irwin's work and had an affection for his mania; he was even memorably parodied on
an episode of South Park. I don't know if he went out trying to "cram his thumb right up the butt'ole" of the stingray, but it would make me happy if he did.
Quotes. More quotes, including
this one:
"If something ever happens to me, people are gonna be like 'we knew a croc would get him!'"
Labels: steve irwin
