Hey it's me Destin, welcome back to Smarter Every Day.
So I think we will all agree that Steve Irwin was one of the best science communicators that has ever existed.
I mean he knew the knowledge and it was like a fire in his bones, he had to share it with people because he was so excited about it.
And I truly believe that he was genuine, it wasn't all just for show.
I get that. I wanted to be like Steve Irwin, I really did.
So fast forward several years. I'm on the Great Barrier Reef and I'm diving and I learn that the guy that is teaching me this stuff, Dr Jamie Seymour from James Cook University,
I learn several days into interacting with him that he was actually on the boat when Steve Irwin died.
So I started asking questions, and I asked him if I could do an interview after we became friends and it felt appropriate to do so.
Steve Irwin was in a different boat when he was hit by the stingray.
He was brought to Croc One, which is where Dr Seymour was.
Dr Seymour was there because he's an expert in venomous animals. He was there to inform Steve and be an expert on the animals that Steve was going to be handling.
Steve Irwin was a husband and a father and he loved other people and wanted to communicate how awesome the world was, and I get all of those things. He was a human being.
So, Dr Seymour interacted with that human being, Steve Irwin, for a few days, and it was the last few days of his life. So I just want to take a minute and listen to what Dr Seymour has to say, and see what Steve's effect was on his life.
(Destin) Alright so you are the expert toxinologist I've learned, did I get it right?
- Got it right that time, yep.
- Right, and so you were telling me that you were actually involved in one of the craziest things that's ever happened in the marine biology world, or at least most public right? So, what happened?
- Yeah that's when we lost Steve. Ah look..
- Steve Irwin?
- Steve Irwin. Yeah, short answer to the whole scenario was, you know, Steve was filming a very large stingray, probably 2.5m across from wingtip to wingtip.
Unfortunately he came in from the back end of the animal with the sun over his shoulder.
The ah, for the want of a better word, shadow hit the ray, the ray thought he was a big shark, whipped the tail up, tail's gone up.
The barb which is probably about that long, went between two ribs and ended up stuck in the bottom half of his heart.
- Really.
- So what you ended up with is for the want of a better word, think of a stiletto wound into the left ventricle of your heart, and...
- And you were there.
- I was there.
- So what were you guys doing? You were filming...
- We were filming a film that Steve was making, it had a whole variety of things but it was looking at ocean's deadliest.
So Steve had rung me probably 18 months before he had gone. We want to make this film about ocean's deadliest.
In fact Steve didn't, one of his mates did. I said ah yeah and I said oh who's it for, he said oh no you wouldn't know him, wouldn't matter.
And this went to and fro, went on for like about 6 or 7 months, and eventually I said who are we doing this for? and there was this, oh we're doing it for Steve Irwin, and I went .. Okay I don't think I want to do this, and the answer was why.
I said Steve's an idiot, he's a dead set idiot. You know, there's a drinking game that you watch when you watch his films, and every time he does something stupid, you've got to skull a beer.
- Yeah?
- You can't get through a 50 minute thing before you're absolutely plastered. And that's what I saw before I met Steve.
And it was really interesting because I just went nah he's an idiot, I don't want to go there. And then Steve came up and saw me.
And he came up on Croc One and we sat down and had a talk, and he said look, this is what I want to do and I want you to teach me about it, and I said look Steve, you do realize that people think you're an absolute moron.
And he went, yeah. And I said, are you? And he said, Jamie do you watch my shows? And I went, not really. And he said, do you watch any of them? And I said, yeah a couple, and he said, why do you watch?
I said, to see what you're gonna do wrong. He said, gotcha. The moment I've got you whipped in to see whether I'm gonna do anything wrong, I can tell you anything.
And you're gonna remember it. And that's what I remember about Steve,
is he, for the want of a better word, put himself out there as this, you know, bogan for the want of a better word.
But what do you remember about Steve Irwin? Crocs rules, save the crocs, conservation. And that's what this guy was all about.
To the extent, he'd make himself look like a complete moron..
- So it was kind of a selfless thing?
- Exactly. And that's what Steve was like. And it wasn't until you met him, or when I met him for the first time and just went, you know, this guy is genuine.
He seriously is genuine. And he's.. he was prepared to put himself out there, make a fool of himself, to help conservation, and help for conservation?
Boy did he what! And you know, 20 years ago people killed crocs. Nowadays, crocs rule.
That's what Australians remember. It's what the world remembers.
- So how did it affect you? Was it bad?
- Ahh, define bad, yeah it knocked me around for a good 6 to 12 months. I almost gave it all away. I went..
- Because you're dealing with deadly animals all the time.
- Absolutely, absolutely, you know I went from times where I was clear, concise, knowing yes this is it, to 5 minutes later being a crying mess on the floor.
And the one thing that saved me, I still remember it, was my son sitting there and going, I remember sitting down with my son, my daughter and going, I'm gonna give it away.
I can't do this, and my son said why? I said Ben if I do this I could die, and both he and Amelia my daughter said at the same time, but dad that's who you are.
- Yeah.
- And I went what? And they said, dad it doesn't matter what you do, you're going to be out there, you're going to do these sorts of things. You know what you're doing, you've never had a problem before, why change?
And that stuck. And then the next thing the pair of them both said, apart from that if you don't do it, how do people learn?
- Yeah and so I mean you're dealing with deadly animals and if you don't understand more about deadly animals more people die.
- Exactly, and so it's, you know it's..
- So what you do is a big deal.
- Yeah I guess it is but it never feels that way.
- Yeah.
- But it's always, you know, it's the sort of thing you just do on a daily basis and a lot of people go, you know, you take lots of risks and things, but we actually don't,
and it's one of the big things that I talk about with a lot of people, you know if some people go, I've been bitten by 55 snakes and I'm still alive, and it's like.. that's 55 mistakes you made.
- Right.
- And that's the way I look at it too. You know I've been hit, you know, 11 times by Irukandji jellyfish and ended up in hospital on all of them.
That's 11 mistakes I made, and I'm not proud of it.
I'm more proud if I can come in, show somebody, do something, show them a venomous animal and walk away, and nobody has got into a situation where they're anywhere near being envenomed.
That's the bit when I go, I've done it.
- Well you certainly taught me a lot, and ah..
- That's good!
- Yeah, appreciate it. I enjoyed.. I like your teaching style too. It's very good.
- It's out there.
- Yeah. No, no it's good. You're very engaging. So anyway, that is Dr Jamie Seymour.
I really appreciate his time, so if you want to, do you want to, do you have anything going on that you want people to know about?
I mean you spent a lot of time with us. It's only fair that we show what you're doing. Do you have a..
- Short answer, if you want to know about venomous marine animals, looking for somewhere to study, JCU.
- Really?
- Absolutely.
- James Cook University.
- Yep, and if you're looking to do post grad stuff and work, give me a call. We're always looking for good quality post-graduate students.
- And you actually teach the venomous animals course here right?
- Absolutely.
- That's awesome. Well thank you so much for your time. Jamie really did spend, how many, 3-4 days?
- Felt like weeks!
- He went out into the water with me even though he had other stuff to do, so I really appreciate it.
- Absolute pleasure.
- I'm Destin, you're getting Smarter Every Day. Have a good one.
So I've just gave you more insight into Steve Irwin's life rather than just focusing on his death like most media tends to do.
Dr Seymour wanted me to remind you that most people think Steve was being dangerous all the time,
but he was taking precautions and he always knew when to back away when an animal wasn't behaving correctly,
he had like a sixth sense for that sort of thing, so Dr Seymour's words were, it was a freak accident, it wasn't Steve's fault.
One last thing. We are continuing the Australia series here on Smarter Every Day with Dr Jamie Seymour
so if you want to keep learning about this stuff feel free to click Australia around my head to subscribe if we've earned it
or check out any one of these videos and learn about a particular animal.
I am super excited about this, I hope you guys are too.
I'm Destin, you're getting Smarter Every Day, have a good one.