This story is now 23 hours old but it wouldn’t be right to let it go any further without comment. I plan to do a longer piece on him later today after my day job.I like to sum a man up first by his quotes, by what comes out of his mouth. Then we can look at the bios and finally the incidental comments. ’Fraid this must do for a few hours now but as I’ve also met stingrays and the occasional shark in my diving days downunder, his death has particular significance for me. More later.

Footnote: Having come home and reviewed this article again and read the material on the links, I don't think I have much more to add. It was a one in a million chance and I've been there. Stepping off my catamaran one afternoon, years ago, I suddenly felt my feet go from under me as the Ray took off at lightning speed and that tail came very close to my body as he went. I once had an eel wrap itself around me. There, but for the grace ...