SECRET underwater footage of the killer stingray blow that claimed the life of Steve Irwin reportedly destroyed at the request of family shows only a trickle of blood pluming from the heart of the mortally wounded wildlife warrior.
Seemingly innocent, the true extent of that one deadly strike only becomes clear as the khaki-clad television star floats motionless in the water.
There is only the barest hint of blood in the water; he appears to clutch at his chest before he goes into cardiac arrest.
Fatally stabbed through the heart by a stingray, the man internationally known as The Crocodile Hunter, 44, was killed almost instantly as he was gored through the left side of his chest by the serrated 30cm-long barb of a 2m, 200kg bull ray in a freak diving accident at Batt Reef off Port Douglas at 11.18am one year ago today.
'It was not that obvious,' said skipper Pete West, who was at the scene and is one of only a select few who has viewed the footage.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, stories circulated in the aftermath of Steve Irwin's death that claimed he had been buried within the confines of the Australia Zoo, in Queensland, or alternatively cremated. The ceremonial trappings allegedly included a crocodile.
- The only surviving footage of a stingray killing crocodile hunter Steve Irwin is expected to be destroyed after it was returned to his wife Terri. Australian authorities have broken with protocol.
- The Lost Media Wiki's article on the subject! Status: Lost On September 4, 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally attacked by a stingray while filming a documentary off the coast of Australia. As they were filming at the time, the deadly strike was captured on video. According to colleague John Stainton, Irwin came up over the top of the stingray, and the stingray defensively thrusted its spine upward.
'The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it,' said Mr West, owner of the support vessel Deepstar.
'If it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality.'
Best known for his famous catchcry 'Crikey' and exuberant love of wildlife, the father-of-two Steve Irwin was filming the documentary Deadly Sea Creatures on Batt Reef when tragedy struck.
He was pulled from the water by the cameraman and a fellow crew member and taken to the Deepstar about 500m away.
'I could see Steve slumped in the arms of his other crew member,' Mr West said.
'The driver told me Steve had been hit by a stingray. It didn't take any time for me to realise the seriousness of the situation. The vicinity of the wound, the amount of blood he had already lost and the apparent lack of vital signs.'
Mr West, 50, an underwater cameraman last night returned to Batt Reef, 32 nautical miles off Port Douglas, with his boat and crew to the exactly the same spot, named 'Crikey Bombie' , to pay quiet homage to the memory of Steve Irwin – and to film the big bull rays that claimed his life.
'Like so many I was one who didn't truly appreciate the significance of Steve and his work until it was too late,' Mr West said.
'Until Steve's death we paid little attention to stingrays. There are many species at Batt Reef some nearly 2 metres in diameter and weighing in excess of 200kg.
'With each encounter we learn more about this amazing animal and there is no doubt – we now treat this normally docile giant with the same respect once reserved for dangerous marine animals.'
Rescue chopper pilot Mark Morrison and intensive care paramedic Darrin Evans, based in Cairns, responded to the emergency calls and met Irwin and his crew at Low Isles – but it was too late.
'It became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries,' said Mr Evans, the Emergency Management Queensland medic who tended Irwin.
'He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing.'
Such was the intensity of the moment; they did not notice it was the world-famous celebrity until they asked for the patient's name.
'There was nothing that could be done, he had effectively suffered the same sort of wound as a bayonet to the chest,' said Mr Evans.
'All we could do was bring his body back to base,' added Mr Morrison.
'It was a job just as tragic and emotional as many others we have to attend.'
Fellow filmmaker and veteran diver Ben Cropp yesterday paid tribute to the legacy left by Irwin.
'A lot of people didn't agree with his antics, but he got the message across,' he said.
'Everyone was waiting for him to die from being bitten by snakes or eaten by crocs, but in the end it was something 'inoffensive' that claimed his life.
'He's left a legacy much bigger than most of us can imagine.'
State Coroner Michael Barnes yesterday said it had been decided there would not be a coronial inquest into the death.
'Cairns coroner Rob Spencer has in consultation with Terri, the wife of Steve Irwin, has concluded there is no purpose to be served by the convening of inquest,' Mr Barnes said.
'They know all of the circumstances of the death, they've seen the film, they know how he died, there is no other reason why inquest is needed.
'It is not exactly a public safety issue. It is an incredible rare case. If anything the publicity around his death has broadcast the key message and that is: Don't get too close to stingrays.'
Originally published asVideo footage reveals how Steve Irwin died
SECRET underwater footage of the killer stingray blow that claimed the life of Steve Irwin reportedly destroyed at the request of family shows only a trickle of blood pluming from the heart of the mortally wounded wildlife warrior.
Seemingly innocent, the true extent of that one deadly strike only becomes clear as the khaki-clad television star floats motionless in the water.
There is only the barest hint of blood in the water; he appears to clutch at his chest before he goes into cardiac arrest.
Fatally stabbed through the heart by a stingray, the man internationally known as The Crocodile Hunter, 44, was killed almost instantly as he was gored through the left side of his chest by the serrated 30cm-long barb of a 2m, 200kg bull ray in a freak diving accident at Batt Reef off Port Douglas at 11.18am one year ago today.
'It was not that obvious,' said skipper Pete West, who was at the scene and is one of only a select few who has viewed the footage.
'The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it,' said Mr West, owner of the support vessel Deepstar.
'If it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality.'
Best known for his famous catchcry 'Crikey' and exuberant love of wildlife, the father-of-two Steve Irwin was filming the documentary Deadly Sea Creatures on Batt Reef when tragedy struck.
He was pulled from the water by the cameraman and a fellow crew member and taken to the Deepstar about 500m away.
'I could see Steve slumped in the arms of his other crew member,' Mr West said.
'The driver told me Steve had been hit by a stingray. It didn't take any time for me to realise the seriousness of the situation. The vicinity of the wound, the amount of blood he had already lost and the apparent lack of vital signs.'
Mr West, 50, an underwater cameraman last night returned to Batt Reef, 32 nautical miles off Port Douglas, with his boat and crew to the exactly the same spot, named 'Crikey Bombie' , to pay quiet homage to the memory of Steve Irwin – and to film the big bull rays that claimed his life.
'Like so many I was one who didn't truly appreciate the significance of Steve and his work until it was too late,' Mr West said.
'Until Steve's death we paid little attention to stingrays. There are many species at Batt Reef some nearly 2 metres in diameter and weighing in excess of 200kg.
'With each encounter we learn more about this amazing animal and there is no doubt – we now treat this normally docile giant with the same respect once reserved for dangerous marine animals.'
Rescue chopper pilot Mark Morrison and intensive care paramedic Darrin Evans, based in Cairns, responded to the emergency calls and met Irwin and his crew at Low Isles – but it was too late.
'It became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries,' said Mr Evans, the Emergency Management Queensland medic who tended Irwin.
'He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing.'
Such was the intensity of the moment; they did not notice it was the world-famous celebrity until they asked for the patient's name.
'There was nothing that could be done, he had effectively suffered the same sort of wound as a bayonet to the chest,' said Mr Evans.
'All we could do was bring his body back to base,' added Mr Morrison.
'It was a job just as tragic and emotional as many others we have to attend.'
Fellow filmmaker and veteran diver Ben Cropp yesterday paid tribute to the legacy left by Irwin.
'A lot of people didn't agree with his antics, but he got the message across,' he said.
'Everyone was waiting for him to die from being bitten by snakes or eaten by crocs, but in the end it was something 'inoffensive' that claimed his life.
'He's left a legacy much bigger than most of us can imagine.'
State Coroner Michael Barnes yesterday said it had been decided there would not be a coronial inquest into the death.
'Cairns coroner Rob Spencer has in consultation with Terri, the wife of Steve Irwin, has concluded there is no purpose to be served by the convening of inquest,' Mr Barnes said.
Watch Steve Irwin Death Footage
'They know all of the circumstances of the death, they've seen the film, they know how he died, there is no other reason why inquest is needed.
Steve Irwin Death Footage Video
'It is not exactly a public safety issue. It is an incredible rare case. If anything the publicity around his death has broadcast the key message and that is: Don't get too close to stingrays.'
Steve Irwin Death Footage
Originally published asVideo footage reveals how Steve Irwin died