And yet "another one dies"

[legion]

‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin dies
Naturalist, 44, killed by stingray on diving expedition

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/

The eventual error with those so called naturalists honoring a high-paying television contract:  Just continue with the "poking and prodding"...then let's see what happens!

[Stranger]

Yes, the guy was asking for it by getting so close to dangerous animals, but he was doing something worthy: Discovering new information for humanity. The  guy was an environmentalist as well. He was on our side.

This guy shouldn't be blamed or scolded. He should be praised for his courage, like we do with all people who unwaveringly stare danger in the face in the pursuit of knowledge.

[Iconoclast_2]

Stingrays usually do not attack people; this is a rare accidnet.  The stingray may have gotten spooked or something.

Yeah, this guy wasn't some moronic "so-called naturalist" "poking around" in nature; he spent millions on wildlife preservation and helped spread awareness to environmentalism.  Maybe he had to "poke around" to some extent by interacting with animals or lugging a camera crew aruond, but not like he was dropping beer cans in the Serengeti.

Also, he helped save many dangerous animals that would have otherwise been killed as humans encroached on their land.

He was pretty much one of the few famous people in modern society that were deserving of their hero status.

[LostWithin]

I stopped watching the show because it became too absurd, most likely from studio pressure. However, despite David Letterman's retarded comments and Irwin's involvement in pop stardom(that horrid movie, had to watch it with some kids), I always admired his desire to show truth, but also to go out of his way, even putting himself in even more potential danger, to not interfere with the workings of nature, but instead to educate. He understood he did not command the world around him, just as a Professor commands his class but not his subject. One thing he always promoted,and practiced, on his show was that nature was not simply scenery, it was a beautiful thing to be given space, time, and most of all, respect. Its too bad so many americans thought that was "stupid".

[Bereft]

He was pretty much one of the few famous people in modern society that were deserving of their hero status.

Indeed. I always thought he was a few beers short of a slab, but he was forever geniune, didn't let Hollywood turn him into a bloated sellout and was extremely passionate about wildlife. As it was mentioned, he even spent much of his earnings buying back native habitat so it could be protected from, as he himself put it, an exploding human population.

His methods weren't as confronting as someone like Pentti Linkola, and for that reason he may have been much more effective at getting his point across. He was a lovable oaf who helped many ignorant morderns give a shit about the environment, and to me that alone is worthy of respect.

[death metal black metal]

was extremely passionate about wildlife

Yeah, I think we lost a good one here. Brave one, too. At least he died in action, not in bed with AIDS like Jesse Pintado and Chuck Schuldiner.

[detrath]

I saw a brief video story about it on the news that irked me a bit. The structure went like this:

-Describe how he died
-Show all the dangerous activities he partook in, including holding his infant son while feeding a crocodile/alligator (great shocking video for the public)
-Explain away his "risk-taking behavior" by an appeal to psychologists who explain that risk takers are just motivated by their brain chemistry, by the feeling of reward from the chemical dopamine. Or in other words, put his behavior into terms the average idiot can understand as explanatory. Bravery in the face of a task you believe in (teaching people about dangerous wildlife) is way too complicated.

Forget that he had to have legitimately loved animals to be willing to get so close to them, to tangle with dangerous animals so that the public wouldn't have such a paranoid anxiety over them, to educate the average joe moron. Nope, he was just another thrill-seeker, just wanting to get high off his own neuro-chemicals. I'm sure aspects of his brain chemistry helped to physically push him towards continuing to pursue his love, but to give the impression that they explain away why he took so many risks, to even talk about psychology after the man just died... fucking news media...

[Annihilaytorr]

It may be fun to joke about his death and all, because all deaths are ultimately meaningless, even yours, but honestly I was always a huge Croc Hunter fan and this does suck. While other kids watched MTV all the time, I watched that show regularly way before it became a big deal. I would have been 11 or 12 then. He was the real deal, as exemplified by the tremendous sadness from other nature personalities and colleagues of his. You could always feel the energy through the screen when watching his show. Somehow though, I always knew this was going to happen to him. I had always figured it would be a snake bite out in the wilderness somewhere, but I read a statement from a friend of his, I believe it was his producer, who said that they always felt he was out of his element under water.