Stingrays

I am stunned to come home tonight and read that Steve Irwin has died in a very random situation - a stingray lashing.  I figured he was going to die at the hands of a creature doing what he loved, but that wasn't what I pictured.  Of course, I am going to be in the waters right near where he has just died in less than a month, so that really shocked me more than anything.

I've dived the waters of the Great Barrier Reef off of Port Douglas several times. I've seen sharks, barricuda, moray eels, lionfish....all manner of dangerous critters - But I never saw any rays, even thoughI knew they were there.  I've never seen the deadly banded octopus there eiher, and I am happy for that.

RIP Steve Irwin -  too soon, too close to home.