The 44-year-old’s charming demeanor and expertise in wildlife made him a global celebrity before his untimely death. But on September 4, 2006, the Australian legend was taken from us forever. For the rest of this sad story, keep reading.
Steve Irwin Cause Of Death
Steve was filming Ocean’s Deadliest, a documentary he hosted with Philippe Cousteau Jr. on September 4, 2006, in Batt Reef. Steve went snorkeling to get some shots for Bindi the Jungle Girl, a children’s nature series he was creating and hosting with his daughter because filming had been halted due to bad weather.
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He was swimming around in relatively shallow water when he spotted a short-tail stingray, which he decided to follow in the hopes of filming. Suddenly, it rose and started stabbing him frantically with its stinger. The short-tailed stingray has a wingspan of nearly two meters and a muscular tail that terminates in a barbed spine that can be as long as eight inches, making it the most giant stingray in the world.
Justin Lyons, who was operating the camera, recalled that the stingray landed “hundreds of strikes” in a matter of seconds. Steve’s heart was penetrated by the stingray’s barb, resulting in a massive gash across his chest. According to Justin, one of Steve’s last statements was, “I’m dying.”
It must be mentioned that it’s sporadic behavior for a stingray to fatally attack a human. Only two other fatal attacks on humans had previously been recorded in Australia before Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Only about two deadly attacks each year are documented anywhere in the world. Justin hypothesized that the stingray mistook Steve’s shadow for a tiger shark, causing it to attack out of random aggression.
Justin and the rest of the team disposed of any tapes documenting the assault on Steve. Any video purporting to show the event today is likely to be a hoax. When he passed away, Steve Irwin was 44 years old.
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Steve Irwin’s legacy
Australia was in grief after he passed. Both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader gave statements of sympathy, and hundreds of fans gathered to Australia Zoo to pay their respects. His daughter Bindi, then only eight years old, spoke at his public memorial service on September 20, 2006, where she mournfully conveyed her love for her late father and reaffirmed his conservationist objective.
“I will always remember him whenever I see a crocodile, and I know that Daddy built this zoo so that people like you and me may come and grow to appreciate and respect all forms of life. “Daddy spent his whole life building this place, and now it’s our turn to help Daddy,” she told the gathering.
The Australia Zoo and Steve’s vision both continue to thrive today. The Irwin family operates a wildlife hospital, and Steve’s foundations keep on truckin’ in their mission to aid both humans and animals. The tree snail crikey Steve Irwin and the snapping turtle elseya Irwin are both named after Steve.
Bindi and Chandler Powell, Steve and Terri’s daughter and son-in-law, are expecting their first child, a baby girl, and Bindi has said that Steve would have been a “good grandpa.”
“I don’t think we would’ve ever seen our daughter. He would’ve just whisked her away into the zoo and it would’ve been perfect,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
“But it is so nice that we’ll be able to introduce her to her grandfather through all of those documentaries. It’s really special.”
