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Post by nikeajax on Feb 25, 2019 13:16:18 GMT -8
I used to really enjoy Jeff Corwin, but unlike Irwin he extremely was lucky: In filming a segment of CNN's Planet in Peril with Anderson Cooper at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center near Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 22 of 2007, Corwin was the victim of a playful elephant. This rough-play consisted of the elephant putting Corwin's elbow in its mouth and wrapping its trunk around his arm, and swinging him around. He yelled as the elephant shook its head, releasing and throwing Corwin into the shallow water in which they were standing. Corwin noted that the pain was so overwhelming that he nearly blacked out, and that his arm still does not work correctly. Corwin later posted the following summary of injuries that resulted:
“To this day my arm doesn't work right. We tend to look at elephants as these very kind gentle giants, like Dumbo and Jumbo from the cartoons. But the truth is, elephants are complex mammals with a huge array of emotions, from happiness to anger to jealousy, and when I turned away, this was his way of telling me he didn't want to be ignored. The trunk of an elephant can lift a 900-pound tree limb. You do not want to be that close to one when he's having a bad moment.”
“Truth is that elephants are easily 15,000 times stronger than my meager self, and if she had wanted to, she could have done far worse than crushing a bit of ligament and muscle. Lucky for me, no bone fracture, hopefully no connective tissue torn (we'll have to wait till I get home to find out about that).”This is just plain cr@ppy though: "In November 2017, Corwin was sued by an elderly couple in Norwell, Massachusetts for trespassing on the couple's property, chopping down woods to create a hunting ground, and illegally hunting deer." JB
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Post by technidiver on Feb 25, 2019 15:29:26 GMT -8
He must be on pain medication daily, I don't think your arm would ever heal to be fully functional. Even after some surgery. I knew elephants were smart creatures, I'd heard that in Africa if they kill humans sometimes they'll burry their bodies under tree leafs or bushes. Kinda crazy, but I guess that's intelligent.
TD
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 25, 2019 15:42:33 GMT -8
One of the big mistakes that people make is believing that animals can't be intelligent or have feelings: but I guess it's just easier for them emotionally to believe this: that way you don't have to be as responsible for yourself nearly as much. The more we know and learn, the more we realize that we don't know as much about things as previously believed: never stop learning!
JB
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 26, 2019 15:58:48 GMT -8
Up until now, I have defended Steve Irwin's work as necessary to help preserve endangered species, which is still true. But as a long-time safety professional, I must now comment on his death. Here is what Wikipedia wrote about his death by stingray stings: I think first that it was unfortunate that the film of this was destroyed, as it is the first time a stingray fatal attack on a human has ever been filmed. If you see on YouTube video purporting to be of Irwin's death, it is not, and is fake. It could have been used by scientists to discover more about stingrays and how they defend themselves. It is apparent that this was in shallow water, with a very large stingray (about 2 meters across). Irwin was right over the stingray too, perhaps to induce it to move forward, presumably toward the cameras (or away, we really don't know). He was also in waist-deep water, which is to say 1-1.5 meters deep (3-4 or so feet deep). This is really shallow for such a huge stingray. What would the stingray see? It would see a dark shadow coming directly over it from the rear (that's supposition on my part, but I think it correct). It could not probably determine what exactly it was, and it was very close. Hence, the defensive attack. Normally, on such a fatality, I use a logic tree analysis of the events that came together to make the accident happen. In this case, we had shallow water, approach from the rear, a huge stingray, and others around (camera crew). Having made a few videos, I'm aware of the effects on a diver's behavior of being filmed. My videos are essentially self-made; I dive mostly solo. Even so, I do find even myself "playing to the camera" to get the "shot" I envision. I think this is what was happening here, and what Steve Irwin wanted was a spectacular shot of him above this huge stingray, and it swimming off into the blue below him. The problem is that although Steve can control the camera crew and himself, he could not control the stingray. It did something totally unexpected, and began stabbing him horribly. This is a cautionary tale for all us who dive and photograph. There is no photo, or video, worth a life! Part of Steve Irwin's professional persona was as a risk-taker. He got spectacular videos of himself, always himself too, doing those things that others would not with animals. His whole purpose was to show that the supposedly "dangerous" animals were not as dangerous as the public perceived, and yet in his own actions he would make animals look more dangerous than they are for the "shot." I think this is much of what PETA and some on our forum are suggesting. Yes, I completely agree here. Recently, on Facebook in a closed group for diving in Turkey (Teknik Dalis Tükeye), Suat Ercanli posted this photo by Andre Musgrove: I wrote in response, "After reading in wikipedia what happened to Steve Irwin, I would be very hesitant swimming over any large sting ray." I am also very hesitant about "staging" a photo or video for sensational effects. That's why, when I finally after years of trying succeeded in videoing lampreys spawning, I did not cut the film to show only the spawning activities, but also kept in much of the dive to show the context of the dives. Someone you know once told me, "...The difference between adequate writing and exceptional writing is that the better writer takes the time to put in mood and atmosphere."* This was the reason this video is so long, to give the context, mood and atmosphere that occurred during spawning. I wanted biologists to be able to see how these animals spawned in the wild, not with a sixty second cut, but with the actual spawning activities of the lampreys. I show the current, the behavior prior, during and after the spawning activity, so that then people will realize that this is their last event of their life, and the most important thing to them in the world at that point. It wasn't about me, but about the animals I was videoing. John *Jay Slean, January 4, 2017 while he was visiting me, gave me this advise.
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Post by technidiver on Feb 26, 2019 16:35:30 GMT -8
Unfortunately Steve was caught up in a bad situation with the worst outcome. Cornering an animal is especially a bad idea, but Rays react in a similar way.
While filming a segment, Jonathan Bird was attacked by an electric ray which had a defensive response. His cameraman partner Bill had closed off any route for escape regarding the Ray and it panicked and struck out at Jonathan. Luckily he was not hurt, but it was filmed and does show the Ray attacking. Scary stuff, as the rays can produce enough of a shock to temporarily paralyze small prey.
TD
I'll include the link when I find it
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Post by technidiver on Feb 26, 2019 16:36:53 GMT -8
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 26, 2019 17:00:08 GMT -8
John, that account made me wince while I read it. Another saying I like is "Familiarity breeds contempt": it sounds like he had gotten just too cocky and comfortable because of his luck. It's sad because he sounds like he could, at times, be very smart: what he did was very selfish and stupid. Like suicide, it's the people you leave behind that are truly hurt, not yourself. As a naturalist, I love to study flora and fauna and I make mental notes all the time. You never know what animals will do, especially when people don't understand how they work. One of those animals people almost willingly misunderstand are deer. They usually run away, especially does, the females, but if threatened, backed into a corner they can and will use their very sharp hooves like knives: they use them to eviscerate in defense! I agree with you about destroying he film: it would have been helpful to science, but when you love someone and lose them so needlessly, that void can never be filled again. That all too painful reminder is caustic to the psyche and it's impossible to think beyond it. Jaybird
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Post by scubalawyer on Feb 26, 2019 19:29:12 GMT -8
That is what those rays do, especially when you grab their tail. I've seen the behavior many times. They are also known as Pacific Electric Rays and can zap you with up to 45 volts. That videographer was lucky he didn't get the shock if his life. M
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Post by technidiver on Feb 26, 2019 20:12:26 GMT -8
That is what those rays do, especially when you grab their tail. I've seen the behavior many times. They are also known as Pacific Electric Rays and can zap you with up to 45 volts. That videographer was lucky he didn't get the shock if his life. M Must have been the double hose that he was using that saved his life! TD
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 27, 2019 10:00:25 GMT -8
Yeah, I noticed the RAM too: you need a DH or a rebreather for shooting underwater for best results.
JB
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Post by technidiver on Feb 27, 2019 17:46:26 GMT -8
Yeah, I noticed the RAM too: you need a DH or a rebreather for shooting underwater for best results. JB That's one of the reasons I have a double hose. For when I need to shoot some video underwater. Not much to see here in the muddy lakes! Maybe the Loch Ness monster will appear some day tho! TD
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