What’s been on the news lately? Well it’s a flew called Swine Flu. But what is this? Swine Flu is a virus that started thousands of years ago in birds.

Did you know that pigs and birds have some of the same cells? Scientists think that the flu was caused by a combination of pig, bird and human flu, put them all together and you get Swine Flu.

Mexico has started out with this. With five times more people that Australia. Because of the flu every single school in the state has been closed until further notice. Even soccer fields have know one in the crowds, that’s disappointing!!!! L

Thermal cameras have been put in airports. These cameras have heat detectors in them so that even if you are over one degrease hotter than you are suppose to be  you will be taken over to doctors to check if you do have Swine Flu.

I believe that as long as Australia has not got the disease yet we should still be cautious and wash your hands regular and keep your germs to yourself!         

What would you do if you had travelled for miles to see a bright and colourful Barrier Reef and when you arrived there was no colour just a grey pasty colour? This is the doing of Carbon dioxide which means it’s partly our fault for producing it in the first place.

Out at sea while the waves are crashing as they are landing they catch Carbon dioxide with them dragging it down to Davey Jones Locker. When this happens the coral loses its colour.  This is called bleaching making the ocean less bright and wonderful. When acid combines with coral it will disintegrate affecting a small sea creature almost impossible to see by the naked eye called a polop. Polops lives in coral and helps produce it. If the coral dies from C02 then plankton also die thus affecting the whole entire food chain. Little fish eat plankton; medium fish eat small fish and so on. So then we have no fish to eat with chips or anything like that.

I think that as long as we’re careful the coral and fish will be OK, but we need to keep an opened mind. We need to take care as much as possible just to make sure!                  

BUT  HOW?

If you are hoping to become a professional surfer you have to start small like all of the pro surfers did. Kelly Slater started surfing when he was just 6 years of age, so how’s that most of his life!

Step 1: starting off small. It’s not that hard to join a local club and learn how to surf and practice. Start off on small waves then get bigger until your good enough to compete in junior completion.

Step 2: As you get older keep practicing and if you really enjoy it you can compete in junior pro completions!

Step 3: come on the top 15 in a junior pro competition that happens once every few years then possibly become PRO!   

GOOD LUCK!! ! J

By Jordan Collins

When many people enter the water they are worried about the creatures in the sea, not what the sea produces. People think that the RIP is a safe place to swim because they are calm and there are not many waves, but in fact rips are more deadly than the waves themselves.

Every year there are over 1,000 rescues every year because of the rips. It’s not how big the rips are it’s how much the victim struggles to swim for shore when an Olympic swimmer cannot even fight the rip. If you just happen to get caught in a rip you should either swim to the side or let the rip spit you out when the rip has come to an end.

You can tell where and when there is a rip because there is a calm part in the water where there is no waves this is where you should not swim because that is a rip, instead you should swim between the flags where the lifesavers can see you.

By Jordan C.    

Black Saturday was a tragedy for not just people who lost just about everything but also the thousands of animals. The fire not only destroyed the animal’s homes but destroyed their entire lives, taking away their food, water and family.

The wildlife centre in Hills Ville is struggling to take care of all the wildlife due to the fires. They have sent some of the animals to the Melbourne Zoo for some extra care.

One of the little animals called Squeaks was dehydrated and starving when the wildlife rescue found him. Squeaks like many other baby animals are an orphan for his mother had pasted away from the fires.

Some of the animals are so badly injured that they have to be bandaged up in order to get better.

My opinion is that the doctors and vets keep doing the best that they can do to save the animals.

By Jordan C.