The hugely successful show “Swamp People” made an unlikely star out of Mitchell Guist, who made his living as an alligator hunter. “News of his death is circulating the web today as fans mourn the man who brought life in the swamps into the forefront of American television.

Guist suffered a seizure while on his boat this morning on the Belle River in Louisiana and fell into the water. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities haven’t released many more details than that regarding his death, but the news hit fans, friends and family hard this morning.

“We are extremely saddened to report that our friend and beloved member of the Swamp People family, Mitchell Guist, has passed away earlier today. Mitchell passed on the swamp, doing what he loved,” a History Channel representative said in a statement.