Steve Irwin, known around the world as “The Crocodile Hunter” has died today at the age of 44 in a freak diving accident in Tropical North Queensland. Steve was shooting an underwater video off the coast of Port Douglas, when he was speared through the chest by a stingray. Emergency services were dispatched, however they were unable to revive him.

As the news of Steve Irwin’s death swept across the country, users were eagerly clicking into their favourite news sites. The huge surge of traffic into news.com.au and abc.net.au/news/ caused both of the popular news sites to go offline for quite some time.

The death of Steve Irwin is a huge loss to Australia and the world. He was an incredibly energetic and nature fanatic, who would have done anything to animal and nature conservation. I think everyone would hope that his legacy and enthusiasm towards wildlife will continue well into the future, through either his surviving family or some other manner.