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Irwin documentary screened
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The marine life documentary being made by Australian Steve Irwin at the time of his death last September has been aired in the USA.
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| Steve Irwin with stonefish. Photo: Animal Planet |
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The programme, Ocean's Deadliest, was screened on Sunday by cable's Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. It was followed by a half-hour tribute to the colourful naturalist and TV personality, appropriately titled Crikey! What An Adventure!
Irwin had been working on the documentary with Philippe Cousteau Jnr, grandson of Jacques, when he received a fatal sting to the heart while snorkelling in shallow water near a bull ray, off Queensland.
Ironically, rays had not even been on the theme list of potentially lethal sea creatures to be filmed for the documentary. But the opportunity to film with rays arose as the team cruised aboard Irwin's 23m dive boat and research vessel, Croc One.
Following Irwin's death, the decision was made to complete the programme, with Cousteau stepping into the breach as main presenter. No footage of the ray interaction was included in the final cut, which concentrated on the team's work with other creatures.
Animals filmed included the venomous coneshell mollusc, a box jellyfish, a blue-ringed octopus, a 2m sea snake, a 4.5m saltwater crocodile, and a stonefish. Irwin's hallmark of education through entertainment saw him hold the stonefish and snake, and ride the croc to attach a tag for research purposes.
For the fatal encounter, it is not known publicly whether Irwin got unwisely close, making the ray feel smothered, or whether he maintained a distance regarded as safe and was unlucky with the ray's reaction. After a police investigation, footage of the incident was destroyed by his family to prevent voyeurism.
It was accepted that Irwin was probably more at risk under water than on land, his most familiar medium. 'If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be in the ocean,' Irwin's manager and close friend John Stainton said after the accident. 'On land he was agile, quick-thinking, quick-moving, and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over.
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