The surprising thing about Irwin's death is that from the available descrip tions, it doesn't sound like he was being especially reckless in this particular case, unlike he was on many occasions (I expected him to die of snakebite). Yes, he was swimming above a stingray, and they really do have stings--but if it had hit him anywhere else on his body but the precise point it did, the chances are very good to near certain that he wouldn't have died. The sting went straight into his heart.

The venom in most stingrays--there are a couple of species--is not especially powerful, nor do they usually present much threat to people. I saw a TV show once that showed scenes filmed at a bay on Maui where I've snorkeled myself. The camera began above water, and we saw lots of people strolling around--it was quite shallow, at the most three feet deep--then the camera moved down into the water. And there were stingrays everywhere, dodging the walking feet. This particular kind likes to lie on shallow sandy bottoms, and are about the same color as sand, so they're very difficult to see. Instead of stinging anyone, the rays just slipped between the feet and legs, rarely even touching them, then dropping back down to the bottom when it was safe to do so. These rays were less than a foot across.

I presume the ray that killed Irwin was much larger than these, and of a different species (but you tend to find pretty much the same fish all over, or under, the Pacific, varying more by temperature zones than geography). The very fine aquarium in Maui had a display tank full of hammerhead sharks and stingrays; these rays were three to five feet across. They were much darker, clearly not capable of disguising themselves as a harmless patch of sand. Irvin's death was filmed (or videotaped), so perhaps eventually it will be shown to the public. Gee, I can hardly wait. Displays of real-life cold-bloodedness are SO much fun.

Footnote: manta rays don't have stings, are filter feeders like baleen whales, and can be very large--up to 18 feet across.