Steve Irwin's final moments were caught on camera – but his biographer has vowed they will “never see the light of day”.
The Aussie legend died after being stabbed by a deadly stingray off the Great Barrier Reef while gathering material for his daughter’s documentary 16 years ago.
Steve, nicknamed the Crocodile Hunter, told his crew to always keep filming no matter what, hence why the upsetting footage exists.
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His biographer Tommy Donovan also confirmed the “death tape” exists.
He said: “If he needs help he will ask for it. Even if he is eaten by a shark or croc, the main thing he wants is that it be filmed.
“If he died he would be sad if no one got it on tape."
The show’s director John Stainton told Lad Bible that he and Steve were out trying to get some footage for his daughter’s show Bindi the Jungle Girl, a kid’s programme, when disaster struck.
John said that when they managed to get Steve back onto the boat he was “having trouble breathing”.
He went on: "As we're motoring back I'm screaming at one of the other crew in the boat to put their hand over the wound and we're saying to him things like, 'Think of your kids, Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on."
Steve, 44, died from his injuries though – but the whole incident, including paramedics trying to save him – is all on tape.
Steve left behind Bindi, 24, Robert, 18, and his wife Terri, 58.
The footage was given to the authorities to aid investigations but the network that worked closely with Steve said it will “never see the light of day”.
John also said that he thinks it should be destroyed and told Larry King: “When that is finally released [after investigations], it will never see the light of day. Ever. Ever.
“I actually saw it, but I don't want to see it again."
In other news, his best pal John also said that the beloved crocodile hunter made "very, very weird" speech before he died.
“A couple of days before we started the show, he made a little speech to all the crew that were up there catching crocs for his research trip which I joined at the end with our crew to do the deadliest movie. And it was really weird,” he said.
“He was sort of thanking them all for being who they were and for helping him. It was like a ‘finale’ speech. Very weird,” John added.
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