Sinking the Iceberg

A friend at home instant messaged me when I was still up at 1am this morning, asking if I’d heard the news that Steve Irwin had been killed by a stingray. My first thought was to wonder if he’d been poking it. Something that was put more diplomatically by Victoria Brims in this story:

I am aware he was filming a documentary and his documentaries are usually very hands on. I can only assume that he had some kind of hands on or close contact with the animal who like us when we get afraid defended itself

We used to drive past his zoo on the way to visit my grandparents, back when it was a dodgy little reptile park, but I never went.  I did see him and his wife in person when their tv show was just starting out, though.

I always thought he was supremely irritating and pretty irresponsible, and was embarrassed that he was one of the few Australians people in the US could identify, but it’s still sad.  His two kids are very young.