STEVE IRWIN - IRWIN WAS GIVEN STINGRAY WARNING ON THE EVE OF HIS DEATH

IRWIN WAS GIVEN STINGRAY WARNING ON THE EVE OF HIS DEATH

LATEST: STEVE IRWIN was issued with a warning about the dangers of stingrays from a ocean expert the day before he lost his life in a freak attack on Monday (04SEP06). The CROCODILE HUNTER star's manager and friend JOHN STAINTON was with Irwin onboard his boat Croc One near Australia's Great Barrier Reef, when the oceanographer from a nearby university lectured the crew about ray safety. The irony of the warning wasn't lost on Stainton, who admits he's still stunned by the way his pal was killed. He says, "He was very used to them and in a lot of parts of the world tourists go into the water and hand feed them and let them crawl over them. "It was only the day before with JAMIE, our doctor that was onboard - who's an expert from the University of James Cook Union North Queensland, that we talked about stingrays and the effect of the barb. "It was so ironic that we would actually have this conversation the day before (he died). I related a story where a friend of mine had got a barb through his leg."