He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.
He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that' is when it occured.
Mr Irwin's body was being flown to Cairns.
Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.
It is believed Mr Irwin's American-born wife Terri is trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and has yet to be told of her husband's death.
Mr Irwin - known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter - is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!".
The father of two's Crocodile Hunter program was first broadcast in 1992 and has been shown around the world on cable network Discovery.
He has also starred in movies and has developed the Australia Zoo wildlife park, north of Brisbane, which was started by his parents Bob and Lyn Irwin.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Mr Irwin for his work in promoting Australia.
Mr Irwin was heavily involved in last year's "G'Day LA" campaign.
"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," a spokesman said.
- with AAP
Yeah, I know. Sucks, dunnit? I mean... Steve was a freakin' icon, but... damn. Damn.
I can't believe it, that guy was awsome. Anyway...
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Steve Irwin, the Australian TV presenter known as the "Crocodile Hunter," has died after being stung in a marine accident off Australia's north coast.
Australian media reports say Irwin was diving in waters off Port Douglas, north of Cairns, when the incident happened on Monday morning.
Irwin was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest, according to Cairns police sources. Irwin was filming an underwater documentary at the time.
Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality Monday morning off Port Douglas, according to Australian media.
Irwin, 44, was director of the Australian Zoo in Queensland.
He and his American-born wife Terri Irwin became popular figures on Australian and international television through Irwin's close handling of wildlife, most notably the capture of live crocodiles.
Well, this sucks, but considering the man made a living by angering deadly animals, nobody can say it comes as a shock.
Swimming off Australia's north coast is like begging for a death wish...but this news really sucks...I always though he was a hilarious guy...
(Note:Its 1 something where im at so sorry if my stuff is a little off or don't make no type of sense.)
I never watched any of his movies or shows alot. Maybe even never watched them, yet I still knew about him. I agree with Wonder a bit here - He made liveing by deadly creatures. It take guts to do half the stuff he did. But you have amitt, This is kinda of a surprise that he just died all of a sudden. And his Wife and Kids don't know a thing about this. May he live a peaceful after life.
Let's give a moment of slience to the most reckless but brave and funny Steve Irven.
They plan to sue the stingray who did this, as the crocodiles had claimed dibs on eating him first. Included in the charges will be emotional distress for not eating Mr. Irwin and time lost in trying to eat Mr. Irwin.
The motion will be filed on The People's Court. Stay tuned.
..............
I'm sorry if I am making light of this. I do respect the fact that he did a lot for wildlife and for animal awareness, not just in Austrailia but around the world. And the fact he was in a dangerous profession merely presaged his death, no matter what fashion it was to be.
...But....this still makes me mad! He was the Crocodile Hunter so HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EATEN BY A FREAKING CROCODILE!! That would have been WAY MORE FITTING than "sea creature stabbed me by accident", because he was not the Sea Creature Hunter. He was the CROCODILE HUNTER!
Stupid stingray. Why'd you have to attack him? It's not like you can even understand what "Crikey" means!!!
*is seriously going to be annoyed about this for some time. No, really. I really did want him to be eaten by a crocodile as his exit stage left for, like, seven years.* >=(
So are you saying you wanted him to be eaten by crocs...you big meanie. =/
I wanted him to be eaten by a croc. But you never mean it. I was watching something of his yesterday. Wierd
RIP Steve.
A sting ray?? I can't believe it. After seeing him wrestling crocs and surving several snakes bites I though he was invincible. Guess he wasn't.
Farewell, Croc Hunter.
Aw, man. ;_; Godspeed, Crockodile hunter.
I hope he had plenty of life insurance. God, his family must be traumatized. But I guess there was always a possiblity of ths sort of thing, working constantly with all these deadly animals. 
RIP, Steve Irwin.
ONE OF THE DEADLIEST STINGRAYS IN THE WOOORLD
</Aussie accent>
It's sad, but he was just one of those people that you thought would be killed eventually, you know? But for some reason it still came as somewhat of a shock to me.
I wonder what will happen to the show.
Wow. Thats sad. I really enjoy his show, and he seemed like a great guy. Also whats sad is the chance of having what happened to him happen is a lower chance then dieing in a planecrash.
I guess, in YTMND fashion, we can only say...
Steve Irwin had one weakness.
Stingrays.
GG, Steve, I'll miss ya.
God, I heard this new late last night, felt like I was kicked swiftly in the ass after I read it.
The shame is that he died so...suddenly, ya know. I felt he had a lot more to offer to the world. Bye Bye Croc Hunter, I'll never forget "Crikey" because of you.
His wife's going to be one of the last ones to find out.
I heard about it this morning and I just stood there with my mouth agape. o.o
CUURSE YOU STIIIINGRAYYYYYY!!!
Now his wife and kids know, I just heard it on the news Aparrently he was peirced in the heart, wow thats got to hurt. But yeah I bet his family is definatley going to miss him after all he was a Icon in australia and throughout the wildlife.
By a stingray as well...
I know the name says it all, but they've only killed 3 people on record in Australia.
He was thoroughly entertainin presenter, he was realistic and open and looked like a thoroughly brilliant man.
He's lived an exciting and impossible life and it's a shame it had to end so soon...
By a flipping sting ray as well...
I never really liked Steve Irwin, but I could recognize and respect the fact that he was an Australian Icon.
It would suck, ya know? The giant bull stingray pierced his heart during filming of a documentary his was making for his daughter. His daughter.
But apparently, he was doing his same old thing and aggravating the animal, only swimming a few feet above it and doing something to provoke it, as per his usual ways.
The 20cm long serrated-edged barb pierced his heart, and he was pulled aboard his boat, Croc One, by the help of his documentary crew, and he bled to death.
His wife didn't hear about his death until much later that day, because she was hiking in Tasmania.
R.I.P. Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin.
But apparently, he was doing his same old thing and aggravating the animal, only swimming a few feet above it and doing something to provoke it, as per his usual ways.
From what I understand he swam over it and didn't realize it
Quote:
From what I understand he swam over it and didn't realize it
I call 'em how I hear 'em. Hence, 'apparently'.
I don't think there was a man alive that cared more about animals than him. I know most of the profits from his shows, events, and Zoo went back to protecting and helping animals. This is a horrible blow to wildlife conservationists everywhere.
It is a tad ironic, from what I know stingrays are very docile, my mother's pet yorkie is far more aggressive. Probably one of contributing factors though, maybe his guard was down because it was a docile animal, we'll never know.
As we used to say back in SWG:
/cry; /salute
~Rico
He was a great man, educated millions, donated millions. Truly helped out the world, and I'll be sad to miss him...
But I gotta say: you play with matches, you get burned.
Well, in his line of work i would have to say it was bound to happen eventually, however i dont think anyone could have predicted it would be a stingray. He was a good man for doing what he did for animals, even if he harassed a few to teach people about them. I know he will be missed by many.
Steve Irwin was a HERO. No public death has ever affected me in this way.
He did so much for conservation, even donating the money he made in entertainment back into conservation and helping animals. He made nature shows entertaining with his exhuberance, enthusiasm, and love for animals, especially crocodiles. He was a wonderful and refreshingly positive inspiration to many people.
I've cried hard tonight. I've done it repeatedly and I've done it while trying to write this. Animal Planet broadcasted 2 specials (from before he died) about him. He talked about how he learned what he does from his father, and wanted to teach his kids to continue his work. It hit me that they wouldn't get this experience, that his 3-year-old would know him primarily from video, and the 8-year-old who was interviewed in the special just lost her father. I wondered if they ever would learn to do what he did (and hopefully they will with help from the family and co-workers), and just how much the environmental movement and the world lost.
People who have worked with Steve Irwin say that he's incredibly prepared and safety-conscious. He's never been bitten by a venomous snake. This was not some safety issue as some people say. He was killed in a freak accident by a not particularly dangerous animal that he may not have even seen. They were filming footage for a documentary for his daughter and he was swimming close to the sand. The ray was probably buried. Even then it's probably not that dangerous, but somehow the ray missed the bone and hit his heart.
Thank you to Steve Irwin and the Irwin family
Vec said it even better than I did.
~Rico
<i>Swimming off Australia's north coast is like begging for a death wish...</i>
Uh, no it isn't. o.O Isn't the reef like a really popular tourist attraction thingie
On topic, it sucks, but honestly I'm not suprised. Anyone who makes a kliving off of announcing that this creature here is one of the most dangerous animals on earth, then saying "Let's see if I can provoke it." is just asking to be killed.
It's ironic, though. Those stingrays are almost never fatal. People step on them alot and it's verypainful and bad, but almost never fatal.
And then this guy, a guy with a lot of experience in handling animals, is killed by one.
Still. Sucks.
Everyone's said it, but it's very depressing. (Someone lowered the flag at school to half staff for him, seriously.) It's terribly upsetting for a hero like him to die so suddenly.
I read this topic the same day Ultra posted but never got a chance to post a reply. I wanted to find out and see whether it was a publicity stunt: "Steve Irwin played the greatest joke on the world" or something like that.
Unfortunately, I think even his family would have hope that it was a joke.
The news came in today's NY Post and NY Daily News. Both stories say that the manta ray was defending itself because the two gentlemen scared it. Needless to say, I miss him like I would miss a hero. I bet he's happy wherever his soul is now.
** sadness **
God let Steve's wild, eccentric soul rest in peace.
EDIT: What's with Father's day being on Sept. 3 in Australia? I thought it was world-wide thing celebration on the third Sunday of June. I need some explanation on this one, Australian forumers.
I personally never cared for the man. I always admired who he was, and what he did, and totally gave him the upmost respect for what he did. I think what pushed me away from the man was his overall "act" or the fact that he had way too much spunk. Seemed fake to me. If that's who he really was in those videos, then crikey, I take it all back.
Though it REALLY saddened me when I found out. Later in that night, Stacy and I were browsin the Something Awful forums and there was a post... saying Steve Irwin had died. Now, it being SA, we didn't believe it... but sure enough, it was all true.
It really, really sucks. Because this man LOVED the animals and the wildlife, and to top it off, he was a NORMAL PERSON at the same time. VERY hard to find nowadays for those who are active with enjoying, preserving, and respecting the wild life. And it has already been said, this man was OVERLY cautious about everything he did. He loved his family, and loved his own life, so he took every neccessary precaution before he would start pokin' his sticks at things.
But this... augh, the poor man. A docile sting ray... and stabs the living snot out of the man, in the CHEST of all places, through the heart. ANYWHERE ELSE, the man would be probably in a hospital recovering from some nasty stab, but alive. But no, little @#$!ing thing had him right at the chest.
Augh, I can't be mad at it... it got in defend mode and the stupid thing acted on that. But at the same time it's like WHYYY, HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU YOU STUPID PILE OF NOTHING!!! RARRRGH.
Unneccessary stupid deaths usually anger me. This one is just beyond utterly ridiculously LAME. WHY!!! 
I do feel bad for Steve and his family. He seemed like a cool dude...
Although, this kind of death isn't too big of a shock. The dude did anger animals for a living.
The one of the morning radio shows here in the Twin Cities talked about him for 20 or so minutes... But during that time, one of them decided to play an old ad Steve was in...
Here's the link...Like I said, its sad he died... but I could not help laughing...
OH MAN! That is TERRIBLE!!! But I can't stop LAUGHING!!!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh man... I'ma miss you, Steve. 
That is soooooo disturbing and yet it's funny.
Well, nobody in my area has been taking it lightly it seems. o_o Sucks to know he's gone though...
~T2K+
