:00:00. > :00:00.Good afternoon, Ayshah here with your Friday's Newsround.
:00:07. > :00:11.Steve Backshall has a special message for TV legend
:00:12. > :00:23.I hope you have a wonderful birthday.
:00:24. > :00:25.First to an update on the fascinating story
:00:26. > :00:31.Well, Boaty will now not be called Boaty.
:00:32. > :00:37.The team behind the new scientific research ship initially asked
:00:38. > :00:42.the public to come up with a name for the new boat and someone thought
:00:43. > :00:44.it would be very funny to suggest the name Boaty McBoatface,
:00:45. > :00:49.However this name has been trumped by a very special man
:00:50. > :00:55.Yes, the ship will now be called the Sir David Attenborough.
:00:56. > :00:59.And it's not just the ship that has been named after Sir David.
:01:00. > :01:01.A dinosaur and 9 other species of animal and plant have been
:01:02. > :01:07.He's also captured the nation with his TV programmes and one
:01:08. > :01:09.person he's inspired is CBBC's very own Steve Backshall,
:01:10. > :01:17.who sent us this message for his idol.
:01:18. > :01:23.My earliest memories of Sir David Attenborough were watching his zoo
:01:24. > :01:28.quest series, which was quite a long time ago now. And they were real
:01:29. > :01:33.expeditions. It was the first time I got to see unbelievable adventures
:01:34. > :01:36.like that in really exotic places, and I instantly thought, that is
:01:37. > :01:42.amazing, that is what I want to do with my life. There have been so
:01:43. > :01:48.many favourite moments. It is very difficult to choose one. But he has
:01:49. > :01:54.completely transformed my view of the wild world. These engaging
:01:55. > :02:00.chimps are so inquisitive that you only have to sit down at their level
:02:01. > :02:04.to discover what sort of creature you are. -- these engaging chicks.
:02:05. > :02:10.My very favourite would be a moment when he was on the edge of
:02:11. > :02:13.Antarctica, in front of two wandering albatross as they sat on
:02:14. > :02:19.their nest, going through an extraordinary beautiful ritual,
:02:20. > :02:25.Gdansk, as they were reaffirming their bonds, having been apart for
:02:26. > :02:29.more than a year. And now that has more significance because I have had
:02:30. > :02:33.a chance to go back there, to that same spot, and to sit as he did
:02:34. > :02:38.behind two birds going through the same unbelievable dance. Sir David,
:02:39. > :02:43.I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I hope that there are many more
:02:44. > :02:47.years of your superb, scintillating programmes. I, for one, and
:02:48. > :02:50.definitely going to be watching. Next we're heading to Canada
:02:51. > :02:53.where forest fires are continuing to rage across huge parts
:02:54. > :02:55.of an area in Alberta. Wildfires have forced thousands
:02:56. > :02:57.of residents to evacuate Although no one is believed to have
:02:58. > :03:13.died, the blaze has already The fire started on Sunday in
:03:14. > :03:19.Canada's oil sands region. Experts say it was able to spread because of
:03:20. > :03:22.the unusual weather. It has caused a drier conditions than normal and has
:03:23. > :03:28.led to a massive increase in the number of fires in the area. Alberta
:03:29. > :03:32.has had 330 wildfires already this year, double the amount they would
:03:33. > :03:38.usually have in one year. 88,000 residents were evacuated and nine
:03:39. > :03:43.evacuation centres set up in Alberta. We had two minutes to get
:03:44. > :03:47.home and grab our staff. According to recent reports, there are
:03:48. > :03:55.approximately 49 wildfires in total with seven out of control. More than
:03:56. > :03:59.1100 firefighters and 145 helicopters, 130 pieces of heavy
:04:00. > :04:04.equipment and 22 a tankers are battling to tackle the blaze. The
:04:05. > :04:09.fires have devastated an area the size of 81,000 Wembley football
:04:10. > :04:13.pitches. And although the blaze is said to be slowing down, rescue
:04:14. > :04:16.workers say that rain will be needed to fight it. Thousands of miles
:04:17. > :04:22.away, volunteers in Toronto have been providing aid packs for those
:04:23. > :04:28.affected by the wildfires. I just wanted to help. There is much to --
:04:29. > :04:31.there is not much we can do. We feel so helpless. The Canadian government
:04:32. > :04:36.is working to find temporary housing for families who have lost their
:04:37. > :04:39.homes. Cooler temperatures and rain are forecast, giving hope that it
:04:40. > :04:41.could become easier to contain the fires.
:04:42. > :04:45.Newsround's back at the weekend with Ricky.
:04:46. > :04:48.Don't forget to check out the website for our special British
:04:49. > :04:53.It's also the place for all the rest of the day's stories.