06/05/2016 Newsround

Good afternoon, Ayshah here with your Friday's Newsround.

Steve Backshall has a special message for TV legend

I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

First to an update on the fascinating story

Well, Boaty will now not be called Boaty.

The team behind the new scientific research ship initially asked

the public to come up with a name for the new boat and someone thought

it would be very funny to suggest the name Boaty McBoatface,

However this name has been trumped by a very special man

Yes, the ship will now be called the Sir David Attenborough.

And it's not just the ship that has been named after Sir David.

A dinosaur and 9 other species of animal and plant have been

He's also captured the nation with his TV programmes and one

person he's inspired is CBBC's very own Steve Backshall,

who sent us this message for his idol.

My earliest memories of Sir David Attenborough were watching his zoo

quest series, which was quite a long time ago now. And they were real

expeditions. It was the first time I got to see unbelievable adventures

like that in really exotic places, and I instantly thought, that is

amazing, that is what I want to do with my life. There have been so

many favourite moments. It is very difficult to choose one. But he has

completely transformed my view of the wild world. These engaging

chimps are so inquisitive that you only have to sit down at their level

to discover what sort of creature you are. -- these engaging chicks.

My very favourite would be a moment when he was on the edge of

Antarctica, in front of two wandering albatross as they sat on

their nest, going through an extraordinary beautiful ritual,

Gdansk, as they were reaffirming their bonds, having been apart for

more than a year. And now that has more significance because I have had

a chance to go back there, to that same spot, and to sit as he did

behind two birds going through the same unbelievable dance. Sir David,

I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I hope that there are many more

years of your superb, scintillating programmes. I, for one, and

definitely going to be watching. Next we're heading to Canada

where forest fires are continuing to rage across huge parts

of an area in Alberta. Wildfires have forced thousands

of residents to evacuate Although no one is believed to have

died, the blaze has already The fire started on Sunday in

Canada's oil sands region. Experts say it was able to spread because of

the unusual weather. It has caused a drier conditions than normal and has

led to a massive increase in the number of fires in the area. Alberta

has had 330 wildfires already this year, double the amount they would

usually have in one year. 88,000 residents were evacuated and nine

evacuation centres set up in Alberta. We had two minutes to get

home and grab our staff. According to recent reports, there are

approximately 49 wildfires in total with seven out of control. More than

1100 firefighters and 145 helicopters, 130 pieces of heavy

equipment and 22 a tankers are battling to tackle the blaze. The

fires have devastated an area the size of 81,000 Wembley football

pitches. And although the blaze is said to be slowing down, rescue

workers say that rain will be needed to fight it. Thousands of miles

away, volunteers in Toronto have been providing aid packs for those

affected by the wildfires. I just wanted to help. There is much to --

there is not much we can do. We feel so helpless. The Canadian government

is working to find temporary housing for families who have lost their

homes. Cooler temperatures and rain are forecast, giving hope that it

could become easier to contain the fires.

Newsround's back at the weekend with Ricky.

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