09-05-2006, 10:32 AM
I was kinda upset when I read the articles because I, like many others, always kinda saw him as invincible. Yeah, he played with some truly deadly animals, but he always seemed to know his shit, even if he pushed the line sometimes. However, the fact that a ray got him kinda upset me. These things are about as non-lethal as you can get, considering what his passion was.
There have only been, IIRC, 17 deaths by stingray in Australia since 1965. The one he was observing was apparently rather large (approx. 4 feet wide) and may have felt cornered between Steve and the cameraman. Furthermore, apparently tiger sharks feed on rays and right now the sharks are out in full force. It truly is a freak of nature that it was actually able to swing its tail in such a way as to put the spike (which I believe was about 10-15 cm long) between his ribs into his torso, but some of these rays are so strong that they have also been known to get the spine stuck in wooden boats when aggravated. Also consider the spine injects an extremely painful toxin and the spine is similar to a serrated knife and you have a quite an opponent.
It really sucks that his kids are so young and that he become such a figurehead for the conservation movement, as both parties will be sorely missed. I always thought he was a bit nuts, but he made nature fun and interesting, which is something that is never done enough to make the general public realize how fascinating it can be. Yeah, something bad would happen eventually, but I figured it would have been a tousle with a croc or something where his crew might be able to help, not something where he'd take a quick hit and be dead a few seconds later. If nothing else, at least he got to go doing something that he was absolutely passionate about. He definitely left his mark on the world and will be sorely missed. I lofe the fact that Queensland is offering any help they can to his family.
OK, the biologist in me came out a bit just then.
There have only been, IIRC, 17 deaths by stingray in Australia since 1965. The one he was observing was apparently rather large (approx. 4 feet wide) and may have felt cornered between Steve and the cameraman. Furthermore, apparently tiger sharks feed on rays and right now the sharks are out in full force. It truly is a freak of nature that it was actually able to swing its tail in such a way as to put the spike (which I believe was about 10-15 cm long) between his ribs into his torso, but some of these rays are so strong that they have also been known to get the spine stuck in wooden boats when aggravated. Also consider the spine injects an extremely painful toxin and the spine is similar to a serrated knife and you have a quite an opponent.
It really sucks that his kids are so young and that he become such a figurehead for the conservation movement, as both parties will be sorely missed. I always thought he was a bit nuts, but he made nature fun and interesting, which is something that is never done enough to make the general public realize how fascinating it can be. Yeah, something bad would happen eventually, but I figured it would have been a tousle with a croc or something where his crew might be able to help, not something where he'd take a quick hit and be dead a few seconds later. If nothing else, at least he got to go doing something that he was absolutely passionate about. He definitely left his mark on the world and will be sorely missed. I lofe the fact that Queensland is offering any help they can to his family.
OK, the biologist in me came out a bit just then.