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06/09/2006: "STEVE IRWIN ............The Crocodile Hunter (cont.)"
Peter West was Steve Irwin's 2nd cinematographer at Batt Reef and was somewhere nearby when the accident happened, his first day of work at sea with The Crocodile Hunter.
"There was no blood in the water, it was not that obvious, " says boat owner Peter West, who viewed the footage afterwards, according to The Oz. "Something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."
"I would certainly like to see the footage. The Ray must have thought it was being attacked. And, as you know, you have to be very close to a Ray for it to strike you.
If Steve jumped on the back of the Ray like he dose (sic) with crocs, that would explain it.
There are some serious questions to be answered. Who was the dive supervisor? Who was the safety diver? Who was the person advising Steve on the dangers of marine creatures? Experienced divers know not to swim close over the top of a big Ray. Who told Steve not to do that, and why not to do it?
From my understanding, Steve was not a long time experienced diver. Someone, other than Steve, is responsible for his death.
They (those closely involved) are certainly tight lipped in Cairns."
Steve Irwin killed by stingray
September 04, 2006 12:00 noon
STEVE Irwin rose in a cloud of blood -- the cameras still rolling -- before his crew realised he had been fatally speared through the heart by the barb of a stingray.
The Australian television star, 44, yesterday died of cardiac arrest after being stabbed off Port Douglas about 11am.
Irwin was being filmed for his eight-year-old daughter Bindi's new TV show as he snorkeled in shallow water when a normally placid bull ray lashed out.
"It was a very unfortunate accident the way it happened -- he just swam over the top of the ray and the barb came up and hit him," said close friend and documentary maker John Stainton.
"The stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart.
"The cameraman said at the time he didn't know that it even hit him until he saw blood in the water and then he knew there was a problem."
He was pulled from the water alive, taken to a nearby boat and could clearly be seen in distress.
Crew members on Irwin's boat Croc One administered CPR and called for helicopter rescue -- but he was dead before help arrived.
Mr Stainton said he and Irwin were in north Queensland to film a new documentary called Ocean's Deadliest for American TV.
He said Irwin was "like a caged lion" when poor weather postponed filming on the reef so he decided to capture stingray footage at Batt Reef for Bindi's television show, which was due to be picked up by networks around the world.
Batt Reef is inhabited by hundreds of tiger sharks and stingrays, which laze in a vast shallow area with a sandy bottom.
Legendary underwater filmmaker Ben Cropp, who has filmed several documentaries with stingrays, said he believed the animal must have been spooked.
"He was swimming along with a ray and there was a camera man in front doing the filming and he was probably getting a little bit too close to the ray," Mr Cropp said from his Port Douglas home.
