On 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia while filming a segment for his daughter Bindi Irwin's underwater documentary called Deadly Sea Creatures.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time (01:00 UTC), Irwin was filming in the Low Isles, Queensland near Port Douglas, north of Cairns, Queensland, Australia, where he was stung either through his heart or through the left side of his chest and suffered cardiac arrest. After he was stung, his crew called for medical help and the Queensland Rescue Helicopter responded, taking him to Cairns Base Hospital. However, Irwin was pronounced dead at noon. The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning the event.