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Re: Steve Irwin (Croc. Hunter) dies in sting ray attack



Interestingly, Ralph Molnar was on an early episode (10 years ago?) of The  
Crocodile Hunter, which featured dinosaurs.  

AdelaideNow  at
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20354260-5006301,00.html
is  reporting:
"As bad weather had ruined his own filming for the day, Steve  Irwin decided 
to dive for some footage for his eight-year-old daughter Bindi's  new TV 
series, and headed for a large number of stingrays, some of them two  metres 
across.  
Irwin singled out one of the creatures and dived down.  
It is not known if he intended to grab the creature in the sort of  
derring-do that had earned him a worldwide audience of millions, but the ray  
reacted 
by plunging its powerful barbed tail into his chest."
 
According to The Daily Telegraph at:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20349888-5005941,00.html
 
"I have just spoken to a cameraman friend who was there and has seen the  
footage," Mr Cropp told The Australian last night. 
"He was up in the shallow water, probably 1.5m to 2m deep, following a bull  
ray which was about a metre across the body - probably weighing about 100kg, 
and  it had quite a large spine. The cameraman was filming in the water." 
Mr Cropp said the stingray was spooked and went into defensive mood. 
"It probably felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the  
cameraman ahead, and it felt there was danger and it baulked. 
"It stopped and went into a defensive mode and swung its tail with the  
spike. 
____
 
There's probably a lesson to be learned here, but the Crocodile Hunter will  
be missed.
 
Mary