I didn't know where to post this, but saw it in the comcast news page,
Vulcan

BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, Australian media said. He was 44.

Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles Reef near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of the state capital of Brisbane.

Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef but refused to say who the victim was until relatives had been notified.

A rescue helicopter was sent from the nearby city of Cairns, and paramedics from it confirmed the diver's death.

"The probable cause of death is stingray strike to the chest," Hamil said.

Staff at Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, said they had heard the reports but could not comment.

Irwin is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his 1-year-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken.

Irwin was also seen as a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in Australia. The federal government recently dropped plans to allow crocodile safaris for wealthy tourists in the Northern Territory following his vehement objections.

Irwin told the Australian television program "A Current Affair" that "killing one of our beautiful animals in the name of trophy hunting will have a very negative impact on tourism, which scares the living daylights out of me."

He is survived by his American wife Terri, from Oregon, and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

hope no one is surprised.. **** he should have been dead years ago. note to self: fondle deadly animals.. you die.

when my friends hear i died from lung cancer i would hope they say "he had it coming" instead of "oh no thats horrible"

Crikey!

Apparently, its a real shocker. Here are just the first 3 article titles that popped up when I googled it:

Staffers at Steve Irwin's park in shock after Crocodile Hunter dies (Jerusalem Post)
Zoo staffers in shock over Irwin’s death (Boston Herald)
Shock across nation over Irwin death (The Australian)

Apparently no one saw this comming.

I, for one, am SHOCKED... that it didn't happen sooner.

Killian

Yeah it is a shocker it didn't happen sooner, but I had to post what we all thought would happen sooner or later. So I am not too shocked by it.

The craziest part is he took it right in the heart. I wonder how much that must have hurt.

Makes me wonder tho... why anyone would take those kind of risks with small children to care for.

It was his lifes love.
He himself made the world a better place and it truely is a sad day.
Just because he had no fear does not mean he was in anyway stupid.

My boys and I loved the guy. And I hate that he's gone, but I hope I'm doing what I love when it's my time.

I agree on that EP, when it is my time, I hope I am doing what I love as well.

don't screw with mother nature...danger,danger,danger

even though it was a freak accident.....he always put himself in harms way...

samething happened to that photojounalist who found himself in the belly of a bear...

even though he respected the animals, he seemed to go out of the way to piss them off....

Crikey I've Got Eaten Crikey Mate!

Tis defenintly a sad day. He did always put himself in harms way, but it usually was for a greater good that he did it. Hes done alot for the world, and I always liked him, he will be missed.

He was highly entertaining and I regret his passing, but he was a prime candidate for the "Darwin Awards".

The best way to deal with a crocodile or an alligator: Wait until it crawls on land, then blow it's brains away with 00 buckshot.

Then prepare it. Delicious . The tail is similar in taste and consistency to barbecued ribs.

Best way to deal with a Sting ray? Stay away from it. Tastes like ****, why risk it.

Well put Slim, EP, Baited, and Vulcan could not have been said it better…

Only to add what better place to go out, I mean Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a complete and total paradise, doing what you enjoy, what you felt you were meant to do, teaching others about the beauty and misery of nature… For his family they will be taken care of from what I have heard his wife was also into his work so she knows the risks and financially… well their rich and famous. I hope they put CRIP rather then just RIP on his headstone.