BtN: Episode 32 Transcripts 10/11/09 On this week's Behind the News: We meet some feathered and furry war heroes. Plans for the most powerful telescope ever. And why some of our rugby stars are kicking it overseas. Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today – why was there a huge blaze in the middle of the ocean? We‟ll look at all that in a sec. but first Catherine has the headlines. The Wire There's a big clean-up happening around NSW's mid-North Coast this week after flash floods hit on the weekend. More than 500 millimetres of rain fell in 6 hours on Friday, damaging roads and buildings and leaving people stranded. It was a double blow for many residents whose homes were damaged by floods in March. *********** New South Wales is getting tough new anti graffiti laws. Kids as young as 13 could face jail if they're caught carrying a spray can. The government's getting tougher after laws brought in earlier this year were unsuccessful. *********** In South Australia a 24-year-old man is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a two metre shark. He was spear fishing when the shark bit him on the leg but, luckily he managed to fight it off. *********** And you might remember a few weeks ago we told you about the Kokoda Track which is one of the most difficult walks in the world. 1 Well how about doing it with no legs! Kurt Fernley is a champion wheelchair racer but he'll be leaving behind his wheels and instead will crawl the steep and muddy Kokoda track. Fernley reckons it'll be his biggest challenge yet - but he's up to it! Presenter: Huge challenge. We‟ll let you know how he goes. Sea Rescues Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: Onto our top story now. If you were on a boat that became lost at sea, what would happen to you? Would anyone come to your aid? It's a question 16 year old Jessica Watson will face if she ever gets into trouble on her solo sailing trip. And it's also come up in the news after asylum seekers were found in the middle of the ocean and debate raged about who should look after them. Sarah takes a look at the rules in international waters. SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Going out onto the water can be a lot of fun, as long as you don't get into trouble. KID 1: Have you got the oars? KID 2: No, I thought you had the oars! BOTH KIDS: Help! Somebody? Help? REPORTER: If you get into trouble close to shore at least you know where help is going to come from but imagine getting stuck out at sea, where help can be thousands of kilometres away. KID 1: So who rescues people out at sea? KID 2: Yeah, who's in charge of the oceans? That's not a simple question. Let's look at Australia. It ends where the land meets the sea. But then there's a 22 km stretch of ocean which is under Australia's control called its 2 territorial water. Then there's another zone that only Australia is allowed to mine or fish but anyone's allowed to sail through it. Beyond that are what's known as international waters or the high seas. They belong to everybody and it's been that way ever since the dawn of the exploration age. Countries decided the seas were too important for travelling and trading and exploring and fishing to be owned by any one nation. But they've agreed to obey certain rules out there; known as the law of the sea. It covers the rescue of stranded sailors. Many countries that are next to oceans have promised to help ships in distress. They might send out helicopters or ships or planes. Which country does depends on where the ship is. The world's been divided up into search and rescue zones, so if a boat goes down here it's Australia's job to help and if it gets into trouble here it's Canada's job. Any ships or boats nearby also have to help and if the captain is asked they're expected to do what they can. Whether they're an oil tanker or a little yacht they might have to stop what they're doing, turn around and go to the rescue. Some really famous rescues have happened, like when the Titanic sent out its distress call, a passenger ship call the Carpathia came to the rescue and saved many lives. Usually survivors are taken to the nearest port, or taken to the ship‟s next point of call. But occasionally that can cause problems, especially when the boat is carrying asylum seekers. That's what happened with this Aussie ship which picked up some asylum seekers whose boat got into trouble in Indonesia's rescue zone. Some people say it should have taken them to Australia because they want to become refugees here. So you can see the law of the sea is complicated and sometimes controversial, but it basically means you have to help someone if they're in trouble. Even if it does mean getting a bit stinky! Presenter: Bit of a relief. Might think about a cruise for my next holiday. In fact, let‟s start the research for it now with a quiz. Quiz 1 The question is: “Which is the largest ocean?” 1. Atlantic 2. Southern 3. Pacific Answer: Pacific Presenter: The Pacific covers a third of the world's surface... so that's one place you wouldn't want to get lost. 3 Oil Rig Reporter: Kirsty Bennett INTRO: Moving onto other stories we're following and if you've tuned into the news lately you might have seen a fire in the middle of the ocean near Australia. It's an odd sight an oil rig surrounded by water fully ablaze. But there is more to this story than amazing pics. Let's find out what's going on with Kirsty. KIRSTY BENNETT, REPORTER: No matter where you look, crude oil is there. It's used to make or power all these things, so you can see why it's called "black gold". But getting it isn't that easy. Oil lies deep beneath the earth's surface. It was created by these guys. When ancient marine life and plants died they fell to the bottom of the ocean floor. And over millions of years they were covered in mud and transformed into oil. But it's a limited resource, so companies go anywhere to try to find it. This is where most of Australia's oil comes from - the sea. It's tricky and very expensive to get to. And the drilling units you need can cost half-a-million dollars a day to hire. They're towed out to sea by ships and sit on giant legs on the ocean floor. It's a slow trip which can only be made in calm waters so it doesn't topple over. Once it's set up they whip out a big drill. Not like that! A bit more like this! These drills can go down for kilometres and in all directions depending on how far away the oil is. That means drilling can last for ages! Sometimes it can take up to a year to get to the oil! If there's a lot there the company then sends out another platform to get the stuff out of the ground. It's pretty hard to see one of these rigs in action because they often work in faraway places. But when an oil rig caught fire recently it caught the attention of a lot of people. The West Atlas oil rig is out in the Timor Sea just off Western Australia. It had been leaking oil for weeks and that was spreading towards Indonesia and Australia. The company tried to stop the leak by pumping mud in to block the hole. It tried three times but on the fourth attempt fire erupted. The company says it knows what caused the fire but won't release any details. But why couldn't they put it out? KIRSTY: On your kitchen stove it's pretty easy to turn off the gas and stop the flame. But on the rig it wasn't that simple. You see, when oil is found there's heaps of pressure around it. So when a company taps into it, it shoots out of the ground. The leak was eventually stopped and the fire was put 4 out but there are still lots of problems. The company reckons it could take up to seven years to deal with the oil spill and the impact it's had on the environment. The industry says Australian oil isn't heaps thick so most of it would have evaporated. But environmentalists say there could be some big consequences for the marine life later on. They want the Federal Government to stop oil and gas developments in the area. At this stage though, everyone is still trying to work out what went wrong. Remembrance Day Reporter: Catherine Ellis INTRO: Ever since the first world war ended - when the guns fell silent at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, we have stopped each year at the same time to remember those who have died in war.