OMFG! Steve Irwin Has Died!

[BlueHUMMERH2]

Stonefish Hunt Lead to Tragedy

According to cinematographer and captain of Irwin's support boat, Peter West, Irwin was the consumate entertainer on Fathers' Day, his last full day alive, sharing tales with his crew to lift them from a despondency about being away from their families.

Mr West, who was working with the famed Crocodile Hunter for the first time, said Irwin only ever had two topics of conversation: "Work and family."

"We were on the boat and discussing how filming was proceeding and listening to Steve's stories," Mr West said.

"It just went into family and he knew I had my first baby at home and that I was missing my first Fathers' Day.

"He was saying how he missed, like all of us, his family and we started trading stories, including how my little girl (10 months old) couldn't yet say dad.

"We all had a great laugh when he said, 'Well, that's better than me because I got called mum, mum for the first month'."

Unknown to Irwin was that his wife, Terri and two children - Bindi, 8 and Bob, 2 - were trying to call him for Fathers' Day.

Irwin did not receive the message sent before his death. Friend John Stainton yesterday said he last spoke to Terri and the children about a week ago.

"We missed a phone call on the boat because communication on the boat was very patchy," he said. "We missed a phone call from her and the children."

However, on the afternoon following Irwin's death, Mr Stainton discovered a text message on his mobile from Terri. "I had an SMS on my phone from her saying that the children send their love, that was all," he said. Irwin had just spent a month with his children in central Cape York's Lakefield National Park catching crodiles for research. Mr Stainton said that Irwin had captured 32 crocodiles in five weeks and was doing "mind-blowing research" on tracking their movements.

"Steve said to me on the boat, on Croc One, at the end of the Lakefield research trip, as we were leaving to go out for this doco, 'John, I've had the best month of my life'. I said, 'Gee, that's a big statement, Steve' and he said, 'No, it's the best month of my life' and that's great."