It’s been 16 years since the devastating loss of Steve Irwin, who was died doing what he loved when he was pierced in the heart by a stingray.

Steve had one rule while fighting crocodiles, snakes, and sharks: the cameras had to keep filming at all times.

His death was the result of a rare accident off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the whereabouts of the tape have long been a mystery.

According to his IMDb biography Tommy Donovan: ‘He tells his camera team to always be recording.’

‘He will definitely seek assistance if he feels he needs it. If he has to be devoured by a shark or crocodile, all he cares about is that it be caught on camera. He would feel disappointed if nobody recorded his passing.’

Steve, 44, was not scheduled to be out at sea on September 4, 2006, filming for his show Ocean’s Deadliest had been canceled that day due to inclement weather.

After getting bored at his hotel, he and his crew set off for Batt Reef, off the coast of Port Douglas, in a small boat to shoot video for his daughter’s show, Bindi the Jungle Girl.

The crocodile raised its vicious tail and stabbed the Crocodile Hunter ‘hundreds of times in a few seconds’ as he walked over it.

While Justin was filming the incident, he didn’t realize how bad it was until he panned back to Steve and saw him lying in a pool.

While the cameras rolled, he hefted a writhing Steve back aboard their inflatable boat and drove back towards Croc One, the main vessel.

The staff applied pressure to Steve’s chest out of concern that he had suffered a ruptured lung.

‘When he tried to breathe, it came out choppy. The damage to his heart was so severe that even if we had gotten him to an emergency room right away, he probably wouldn’t have made it ‘Says Justin.

We’re on the road to recovery We are telling him things like, ‘Think of your kids, Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on,’ as I yell at another crew member to put their hand over the wound.

Steve turned to Justin and said, ‘I’m dying,’ seemingly unconcerned about the finality of his words. Perhaps realizing the severity of his injuries, the cameras caught the heartbreaking moment.

Back on Croc One, a second cameraman took over while Justin continued mouth-to-mouth for an hour, until paramedics arrived and pronounced Steve dead.

CPR and other medical procedures were also recorded with the stingray assault itself.

The tape was eventually given to Queensland Police to aid their inquiries in the days that followed.

There were instant rumors that it might air on television, but the network responsible for making Steve a household name, Discovery Communications, said the tape would never be broadcast.

As John Stainton put it, ‘it’s too upsetting to ever be exhibited.’ I think it ought to be destroyed, he said on CNN’s Larry King Live.

Nothing good will come of that, even if the coroner decides to reveal it. I was there, and I don’t want to go back there.

Despite this, millions of people persisted in looking for the disturbing video online.