Australian naturalist and TV personality Steve Irwin, killed off Queensland on Sunday by a ray sting to the heart, was always most likely to lose his life to an oceanic creature, according to his manager.

Stingrays do not normally constitute a hazard to divers. Photo: John Bantin

Britain's Daily Mail has reported that John Stainton, in the aftermath of the widely publicised accident off Port Douglas, described conversations he had had with Irwin over the possibility of a serious accident.

"If ever he was going to go, we always said it was going to be in the ocean," Stainton is reported to have said. "On land he was agile, quick-thinking, quick-moving, and the ocean puts another element there that you have no control over."

Irwin, 44, was an Australian national treasure famous for his TV documentaries, based mainly on terrestrial wildlife, in which he interacted daringly with animals including crocodiles and snakes. Marine programmes had included work with penguins and whales in the Antarctic.

It has been acknowledged that Irwin's approach to film-making could involve risky interactions with animals - although Irwin would insist that things were always under control. Fellow TV presenter and survival expert Ray Mears has openly blamed any such approach by Irwin on the appetite of TV viewers for entertainment.

But the accident that claimed Irwin's life appears to have involved some very bad luck. Filming in shallow water for a documentary, Irwin was attacked when he snorkelled over the top of a sting ray, which reacted unexpectedly.

Based on information from film footage of the incident, a cameraman told The Australian: "He was up in the shallow water, probably 1.5m to 2m deep, following a bull ray which was about a metre across the body - probably weighing about 100kg, and it had quite a large spine.

"It stopped and went into a defensive mode and swung its tail with the spike. It probably felt threatened because Steve was alongside and there was the cameraman ahead, and it felt there was danger and it baulked."

By great misfortune, the ray's barb punctured Irwin's chest and heart. Caught on film, he was seen to pull out the barb, which would have been some 10cm long. He was recovered aboard the cover boat and, despite the arrival of a helicopter with paramedics, did not survive.

Rays are generally placid creatures. In Australia and elsewhere in the world, snorkellers and scuba divers routinely swim in the company of many different ray species, large and small. Even when stings occur - usually to swimmers who tread on rays buried in sand - the venoms are not strong enough to kill.

Irwin's is just the second recorded fatality from a ray sting in Australian waters, the other having been off Melbourne in 1945. An Australian hospital toxicologist is reported to have said that Irwin's death was almost certainly "little to do with the venom and all to do with the trauma caused by the barb".

Among Irwin's naturalist peers, David Bellamy regarded Irwin as an absolute professional. "He knew exactly what he was doing, he had a tremendous respect for animals he dealt with and that's why he could educate, entertain and inform us so well... He was magical," Bellamy is reported to have said.

Irwin's programmes were seen both by Australians and, through syndication agreements, large audiences around the world. He combined his life as a TV natural history presenter with that of zoo operator, putting money he earned from TV back into Australia Zoo, a reptile park in Queensland run by his parents up to their retirement in 1991.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has referred to Irwin's "sudden, untimely and freakish death". He paid tribute to "a wonderful character" and a "passionate conservationist" who had "brought joy and excitement to millions of people".

Such was his position in Australian society that, given permission from his family, Irwin reportedly could get a state funeral. He leaves a wife, Terri, daughter Bindi, 8, and son Bob, 3.

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