"It should be destroyed," John Stainton said of the recording of Irwin's death on Monday off the Great Barrier Reef when the barb of a stingray punctured his heart.

"At the moment, it's in police custody for evidence, there's a coroner's inquest taking place at the moment, and when that (tape) is finally released it will never see the light of day, ever," Stainton said on CNN's Larry King Live.

 "I actually saw it and I don't want to see it again," he said.

 "I had to watch it because I wanted to make sure what was on that tape that was going to the police, we had to watch it to sign off on it.

 "It was a hard experience," Stainton said.

 He did not give details of what the tape showed.

 Irwin, 44, whose daring face-to-face confrontations with all manner of deadly crocodiles, snakes and spiders made him a global media phenomenon, plucked the barb from his chest before collapsing and dying, Stainton said.

 He said the incident took place off Port Douglas, on the far northern coast of Australia, while Irwin was filming a documentary for the Discovery Channel called "Ocean's Deadliest".

 He said he believed Irwin was dead before he was flown by helicopter back to the mainland for emergency medical treatment.

 "We spent the next 50 minutes or more on CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) trying to keep him alive," Stainton said, adding: "I don't think he was alive."

 The Discovery Channel, watched by more than 200 million people around the world, said the footage of Irwin's death may never be aired.

Agence France Presse