:dubious: Maybe most of them just didn’t do it because tv cameras weren’t around. I haven’t read seen/much on Sylvia Earle or Eugenie Clark but I’ve seen videos of Jane Goodall getting involved in chimp squabbles and doing other things that she really shouldn’t have been doing. Dian Fossey was also known for engaging in risky and dangerous behaviors. Both of those women are very guilty of anthropomorphizing and getting too close to the animals they were just supposed to just be observing. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Steve seemed like a very likeable nice and kind guy with a real love for what he did. My kids and I liked to watch him, and I like the wonder and enthusiasm he generated in them.
I admire Steve for another reason.
In Gorky Park one of the protagonists describes the death of a friend.
It was in the middle of the Russian winter, like 40 below and they were on a frozen lake. The ice cracked and the friend fell in. The friend looks at the protagonist, and they both know that he’s going to die. He can freeze to death in a minute or two in the water, or he can pull himself out freeze to death.
He pulls himself out and freezes to death.
Steve got nailed in the heart with a stingray barb. Have you seen what those things look like? They will go in smoothly, but because of the barbs they will leave a horrific wound and tear things apart if you try to pull them out.
What did Steve do?
Underwater, stabbed in the heart, he nonetheless pulled it out.
Just try to imagine that.
He pulled it out.
Think of what you might do, what you wold feel if it happened to you. You would likely panic, you would breathe in water, flail about. Think of the willpower it would take to rip that barb out of your heart, out of your chest. Think how he most likely maintained the presence of mind to know that the barb contained poison and if he was to have a chance at living, he had to get it out. Think how much effort it would take, how much it would hurt and how much focus you would need to pull it out.
The guy in Gorky park climbed out of the water.
Steve pulled out the barb.
Good on you Steve. May we all acquit ourselves as well.
Thing is, if he’d been just like everyone else, who would have ever noticed him? His lunacy was what made him special - and killed him.
Pfft, just about everyone’s initial reaction is to pull the knife, barb, whatever out, that doesn’t anything. Wax maudlin much? Christ.
You know this, how?
Perhaps you could let me stab you in the chest with a barbed instrument and you could demonstrate this reaction?
I once put a fishook through the meat of my finger, and there was no way I was yanking that sucker out.
But why don’t you try it and let us know.
It’s called instinct you wanker. It’s why we are oft lectured not to reactively pull the knife out when we are stabbed, to avoid making things worse, what with blood loss, etc. It’s a natural reaction for most people. Just because Steve Irwin allegedly did it doesn’t make his death somehow poetic. STFU and GBTW.
Bullshit. If he was bitten by a poisonous snake he was handling I’d agree with you. His death was a fluke. Are you saying all people who swim in oceans are lunatics?
Get Back to Wanking?
Will do!
I have to openly wonder, without calling anyone out, if eveyone who looks down on him for being a “TV star” or accuses him of “exploitation” has never posted in a thread here showing sorrow or regret over the passing of a “TV/movie star” or someone who could also be accused of “exploitation”. I’m sure some people have, but I’ll bet not all.
The guy was an entertainer, sure, somewhat. He did some good by raising money and “awareness” to an extent. At least he didn’t seem to me to be the typical vapid fuckhead deer-in-the-headlights Jennifer/Brad/. type on TV/movies that there are innumerable entertainment articles about.
He had an infectious enthusaism that caught my eye much moreso than than the dour countenance of Goodall. He made me smile and laugh and get interested in things even when I normally didn’t care enough to.
I give him an “Oi” with raised beer glass.
And I’d like to add to wring’s mention here-for those who say, “Oh, but he knew what he was doing”, well, so did Roy Horn. Didn’t stop him from being injured by one of his trained tigers. And from what experts have theorized, said tiger was not even trying to harm Roy, but trying to protect him.
These are wild animals-I don’t care how much of an expert you are-you should NEVER trust them completely. All it would have taken is one misstep, and little Bob would have been croco-snacks.
So, using every safety device invented, you are still unable to leave the closet? … How sad…
Of course, his actions might have encouraged those animals (which are indeed dangerous) to decide to put some distance between themselves and the next crop of humans that they saw because of Irwin’s actions. Sort of like what you or I might do if we were abducted by aliens and given a particularly nasty anal probe. The next time we saw strange lights in the sky, we’d probably want to make a run for it rather than risking getting a giant satellite dish or ice cream truck shoved up our asses by some LGMs. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
Uh, no.
He wasn’t just swimming in the ocean - he was within 3’ of the stingray, with a cameraman in close proximity. According to reports, the animal was fine with him initially, but when it changed its mind and went into a defensive pose he had no room, physically, to compensate.
Can’t we at least agree here that repeated exposure to high-risk environments, in a high-risk manner = eventually something’s probably gonna getcha?
Yet that was who he was; that was what made him notable.
I seem to remember something in Freshman Lit re: people bringing about their own demise…
You’re going to have to walk me through that one, Sparky. I think you left out a couple of steps.
A dumb ol’ question. Did the fish survive? I understand bees often tie when they sting.
Poisonous animals are often referred to as “hot” among folks who maintain collections of poisonous and non-poisonous species.
Only if they can do a Windsor Knot, otherwise they’re doomed. 
Thanks to Jury Duty, I’m arriving a bit late.
I was sad to hear of his death. From my perspective, there were two flukes in Steve Irwin’s eccentric existence that warrant removal from the sample data before trying to analyze him: The manner of his death and the whole incident with his infant son. I think entirely too much speculation and emotion get thrown into the mix unless those are set aside.
I studied Zoology as an undergrad for 6 years, with the extra time and units spent on pre-requisites for Vet School. Shortly after graduating I changed my mind about Vet School. Close to 10 years later I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate my passion and interest in Biology and conservation into a related career. I don’t want to just have a career though, I want to make a difference. I want to be more a part of the solution and less a part of the problem, and I want to do all of this and still make enough money to finish paying off my student loans and make ends meet. I think these are fairly common desires for folks involved in the Biological Sciences. The thing is, we all can’t have a TV show, or make documentaries, or publish research studies that get written up in National Geographic. Hell I’ll go out on a limb and say that most of us (myself included) make a living in completely unrelated jobs.
Also from my perspective, the most obvious part of the problem is humans. Human ignorance. Human misinformation. Human appetite for resources. Human bias. Human weakness. I try and live my little life as best I can by managing these traits and tendancies within myself, seeking out the company of other’s of like mind, and taking advantage of what small opportunities arise to have intelligent discussion with folks who may not be of like mind. To live this way is my choice. I’m not a very radical person.
I can’t see how someone like Steve Irwin could be happy living a life like mine, or a life of quietly publishing research studies in academic obscurity. He made very different choices with his life. In spite of our differences, I admired and supported his approach. In spite of the fact that I’m not a very radical person, I think there is an urgent need for talents like his. Zoos and High School Biology are not enough. If we as a society have any hope of turning the tide of global human impact, we need more Steve Irwins in the world to try and capture and retain the attention of the masses long enough that they might learn something.
I heard somewhere (the news?) that though 'rays lose their stingers like bees when they sting they don’t die from it and usually regrow the stinger.