On the topic that ate LJ today

[geekchick]

No matter what you thought of the man personally (and I've seen plenty of people today both imply and state outright that "he got what he deserved" *twitch*), as dewhitton says: "He made people care about the animals, even the ugly ones. He saved patches of bush, even the useless stuff like rainforests and swamps. He got everyone thinking about the world we should be caring for." I think on the whole the world is a poorer place without him in it.

Comments

[tommx.livejournal.com]

Most people probably considered him nothing more than a thrill seeker with a good publicity machine. I honestly never watched any of his shows, so I don't have much of an opinion. I talked to a friend of mine who does scuba dive regularly and has come to within 3 feet of stingrays, and posited that Irwin must have been VERY close to a large stingray for that to have happened to him. I am sorry this happened to him, but I also feel a certain renewed concern for my friends and co-workers who scuba dive regularly for a living.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

The video, according to Queensland police, suggests that he was swimming over it, and that it was spooked by his proximity and/or that of the camera operator. He wasn't harrassing it directly. The folks who said, "He must have stuck a finger up its arse," were wrong.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

Yes, from what I read, it was a freak accident that really could have happened to anyone. What I read suggested that the stingray was under some sand and that Irwin might not have known it was there until it stung him.