Irwin's dad: 'I lost my best mate'

Story Highlights

• Manager says Irwin pulled stingray barb from his chest
• Videotape of Irwin's death "should be destroyed"
• Irwin will be honored "in whatever way his family wants"

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BRISBANE, Australia (CNN) -- Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's father says he lost his best friend when his son was killed in a diving accident as he rejected the offer of a state funeral on the grounds that the naturalist would not have wanted the fuss.

"Steve and I weren't like father and son, we never were," Bob Irwin told reporters outside Australia Zoo, the animal park in tropical Queensland state where the TV star had been director.

"We were good mates. I'll remember Steve as my best mate ever," he said, according to the Reuters news service.

Bob Irwin thanked fans for their tributes to the TV star but said and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke"

Irwin's father said the family would refuse the offer of a state funeral for the popular naturalist, because his son was an "ordinary guy."

"He's just an ordinary bloke and he wants to be remembered as an ordinary bloke," Bob Irwin said at a news conference Wednesday outside the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland where his son was the director.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said a state funeral would be held if the family desired one.

"We will honor Steve Irwin in whatever way his family wants," he said.

Meanwhile, colleagues of Irwin said they wanted video footage destroyed of the star showing him pulling a deadly stingray barb from his chest just before he died on Monday.

Irwin's manager and close friend John Stainton said Irwin was being videotaped diving on a reef off Australia's northeast coast for a television show.

Stainton said he would not want the tape released. "It should be destroyed," he told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday.

Stainton told CNN he believed Irwin was dead by the time he was brought from the water, despite efforts by those on his boat to keep him alive while racing to an island to meet a medical helicopter Monday.

"In my heart, I figure -- I think he was dead when he was in the rubber ducky," an emotional John Stainton told King. "I don't think he was alive." (Watch excerpts from the show -- 4:46)

A rubber ducky is a small inflatable boat, which was used to transport Irwin back to his research vessel, CrocOne. Efforts to resuscitate Irwin proved futile.

Irwin, 44, an Australian naturalist and wildlife crusader who won fame for his TV show "The Crocodile Hunter," had been working on a documentary -- ironically, on the ocean's deadliest animals -- at Batt Reef in the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas when the accident occurred.

"He was as good on the water as he was on land," Stainton said. "He was comfortable anywhere there was wildlife. He'd been diving 10, 15 years ... I never thought he'd take a hit from a stingray. He was very used to them."

Only the day before, he, Irwin and a doctor on board had discussed stingrays and the effects of their barbs, Stainton said. Stingrays, however, were not to be included in the documentary. (Watch how a stingray strikes -- 2:35 )

As far as the videotape showing Irwin's death, "I would never want that tape shown," Stainton said. "It should be destroyed. At the moment, it's in police custody. A coroner's inquest is taking place. When that is finally released, it will never see the light of day, ever."

Stainton said he had to watch the tape in order to verify what was on it. "It was a hard experience," he said.

Irwin's body was brought home from Cairns to his home town of Beerwah in southeast Queensland on Tuesday. Stainton said he accompanied it on the six-hour flight. A date has not been set for the funeral, he said.

Irwin, who was director of the family's Australia Zoo in Queensland, is survived by his American-born wife, Terri, and their two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Robert, 3. Asked how Terri Irwin was doing, Stainton said, "A lot worse than me."

'You think it's not happening'

When family members saw Irwin's casket, he said, "It was like a full stop ... you think it's a dream and it's not happening, but it is, and it has and it's done."

Irwin's father Bob said in Australia Wednesday he would remember his son as "his best mate -- ever."

As fans from around the world mourned his death, it was announced that a state funeral for Irwin would be held if his family so chose, an Australian state premier said.

"We will honor Steve Irwin in whatever way his family wants," said Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, speaking to CNN affiliate Channel Seven. (Watch what Irwin meant to Australia -- 2:49)

"We will approach the family and we would obviously be keen to honor him in some sort of way from the Queensland Government point of view, from the state's point of view, but we would only do that with the family's approval."

For the past week, Irwin, 44, had been working on the underwater documentary.

Bad weather for the past few days had made it impossible to proceed with a planned taping for the Animal Planet channel, so Irwin instead chose Monday to shoot "a couple of soft stories for a new TV show we're doing," Stainton said.

"He and the underwater cameraman went out to do some pieces on the reef and coral and stuff good for the kids' show and, unfortunately, he came out over the top of a stingray that was buried in the sand and the barb went up and hit him in the chest."

Rescuers put Irwin aboard his research vessel, CrocOne, and attempted to resuscitate him during the 30-minute dash to nearby Lowe Isle, where a medical helicopter was available to take him to a hospital, but the effort proved futile.

Out of respect for Irwin's family, Australia's quarantine service is withdrawing all TV advertising that features Irwin promoting the importance of Australian quarantine measures.

CNN's John Vause contributed to this report.

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