In a 2000 interview with Scientific American, Steve had shared, “I put my life on the line to save animals, 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.” Steve knew that the work that he loved doing was dangerous, but he continued because of his love for wildlife.
On September 4, 2006, 11am Australian time, Steve was shooting a documentary segment on stingrays. Snorkeling on Batt Reef , a stretch of the Great Barrier Reef about 15km from Port Douglas in North Queensland, Irwin happened to swim over a large ray which, startled, whipped its barbed tail upwards into his chest. He died instantly. He was 44.
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Veteran marine wildlife documentary maker Ben Cropp, who has spent hundreds of hours filming on Batt Reef, says Irwin had come too close to a bull ray. Citing a colleague who saw footage of the attack, Cropp says Irwin had accidently boxed the animal in, causing it to attack. “It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest,” says Cropp. “It’s a defensive thing. It’s like being stabbed with a dirty dagger.” Says Cropp: “It’s a one-in-a-million thing. I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me.”
Fellow crew members dragged Irwin from the water and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation while racing their boat Croc One to meet a rescue helicopter. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at Cairns Base Hospital at noon. Outside the hospital his longtime friend and producer John Stainton said, “He died doing what he loves best, and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, Crocs rule.”
Source: Chelsea House Pub
A public memorial service was held at the Crocoseum. Thousands showed up for the moving event, where one seat, next to Terri, Bindi and Robert was symbolically left unoccupied. Bindi walked on stage to deliver a speech she had written herself, in which she expressed that she didn’t want “Daddy’s passion to ever end” and vowed to “help wildlife just like he did.”
Source: Chelsea House Pub