At least 10 stingray bodies have been found on two Australian beaches since "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was fatally injured by one of the fish, and conservationists are worried people are killing them to avenge his death.

Michael Hornby, the executive director of Irwin's Wildlife Warriors conservation group told the AP, "It may be some sort of retribution, or it may be fear from certain individuals, or it just may be yet another callous act toward wildlife," adding the killing stingrays was "not what Steve was about."

"We are disgusted and disappointed that people would take this sort of action to hurt wildlife," he said.

Irwin was recording a show off the Great Barrier Reef last week when a stingray spine pierced his chest. Stingrays kill many small sea creatures by admitting poison from their spines, but only a few people have been killed by the toxins.