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Last Update: Sunday, September 24, 2006. 10:37am (AEST)
Diving industry says Irwin death won't impact trade
The Queensland dive tourism industry has moved to reassure visitors about the safety of diving and snorkelling after the death of conservationist Steve Irwin.

The conservationist and television personality was filming an underwater documentary off the coast of far north Queensland when he was killed by a stingray earlier this month.

Col McKenzie from Dive Queensland says he does not believe the accident will scare people away from scuba diving and snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.

"It's a very, very safe activity and we get a lot of people out there in their 70s and 80s snorkelling for their first time and coming back absolutely raving over the fact that they've been able to see these stingrays and other animals out there in their natural habitat," he said.

"It's a fantastic experience and don't let this accident put you off.

"There's certainly been no indication that people are more scared because of what's happened.

"I think the vast majority of people have just taken it and accepted the fact that it's just one of those very rare occurrences.

"It's really something akin to a lightning strike - most of the animals that we see in the water are fairly happy just simply to ignore humans and if they feel at all pressured they'll swim away."