ABC NEWS - DOMINIC THURSTON

  ABC NEWS - AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION - LIVE COVERAGE BY HELICOPTER CREW @ GREAT SANDY STRAITS MARINA, HERVEY BAY, URANGAN, FRASER COAST, QUEENSLAND

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Shui Razor cashes in his winning ticket at Ladbet International. Suki Hall is at the presentation ceremony with an official from the company, for this PR shot. The whole world cheer the Japanese rescuer for his bravery, having lost two ships to Kulo-Luna. He still dived into dangerous netting to save Kuna, the baby humpback whale. He jokes that he hopes Kulo-Luna will not sink any more of his vessels. And he has a new respect for humpback whales. John Storm is both amazed and pleased to learn Shui had been betting on Kulo-Luna to win.

In this fictional (original) John Storm climate and ocean adventure story, the ABC news editor Dominic Thurston, has a nose for a story. He sends a helicopter camera crew to Great Sandy Straits Marina, Hervey Bay, Urangan, off the Fraser (Island) Coast of Queensland.

“Quick. Urgent, Hurry.” Shouted Dominic Thurston, news editor at the famous media organisation. “Get a crew down to Hervey Bay right now. Stat, like yesterday. Cetacean Watch, from the Centre, have called in an emergency."

A film crew chopper from their Brisbane office was already in the air filming at Great Sandy National Park. They’d be on site in less than 14 minutes at full speed.

He was not wrong. Viewers were spellbound by the unfolding drama, where Shui Razor, a hardened whaling captain, dives into the harbour to rescue Kuna from drowning. Then John Storm joins Shui Razor in the rescue efforts. Suddenly, with a helicopter hovering overhead, their little marina is thrust into the news as an ABC main feature. Since, the whole world has been following the chase and betting on the outcome, of the $Billion Dollar Whale, a phrase coined by veteran BBC news anchor, Jill Bird.

Cut free, Kulo and Kuna give a fabulous broaching display, and swim up to Shui to nudge him affectionately. Then, Shui kisses Kulo Luna.  The whole world gasps at this turn of events.

Then, Shui reveals that he holds a winning ticket, having bet on Kulo Luna to win:

EXT ABC HELICOPTER, SANDY ST. MARINA

Their Airbus H125 was flat out at almost 290 kilometers an hour. It was equipped with real-time street mapping software, and extreme vision cameras that included facial recognition software. The helicopter swooped down from 2,000 feet, having flown down Great Sandy Straight, and over Turkey Island, coming to Booral, where the pilot dropped to 1,000 feet, still at maximum speed. 

As the chopper rounded on Urangan with Hervey Bay Airport to their left, the pilot dropped lower with the marina in sight. Then they were just above the marina. Not far in from the outer breakers, they could see two whales in the water. The smaller of the two was splashing it’s flukes and tail.

Coming in lower, the pilot hit the hover button, so he could home in on a man running along a jetty towards the whales with the remote camera. The pilot had come in as low as he dared, focussing on the man running for a moment. It was Shui Razor. 

A small boat was rushing along the north breakwater, carrying John, Dan and Suki.

Shui had just ripped off his jacket. He had a knife in his teeth. 


INT - ABC NEWSROOM 

Dominic Thurston had been watching the feed live. He yelled into his microphone. “Pilot, follow that man.”


EXT - ABC HELICOPTER, MARINA

The pilot zoomed in on Shui Razor. 

“Oh my god. I think he’s going to kill the small whale.” Blurted the pilot. “He is one of the whalers chasing that giant whale, Kulo Luna for the reward money,” said the news editor.

This was turning out to be one hell of a story.

John Storm rounded the tip of the breakwater. Looking south, down along the inner harbour, he could see the two whales some 200 meters ahead. Suki spotted Shui dive off the most eastern jetty. He was less than 50 meters from the whales. The dive was text book graceful. Closing the gap between Shui and Kuna.

Kulo Luna saw her adversary swimming toward her baby at quite a pace for a human. She attempted to stop him, by swimming between them. Shui was on a mission. He swam right up to Kulo’s eye quite angry at being hindered. Then showed his hands, and gestured to mimic cutting rope. Then shot her a quizzical look, meaning WHAT!

Kulo nudged Shui with her flipper, pushing him in the direction of Kuna. She knew that only a human could save Kuna from drowning. He was the closest and apparently willing to help.


INT - ABC NEWSROOM, LIVE TV

The feed from Hervey Bay was now a live broadcast, networked as a breaking story around the world.

“We are reporting live from a marina near Fraser Island, Australia, where you can clearly see a man in the water cutting a young whale free from netting. If we are not mistaken, that boat alongside has John Storm on board, the conservationist who scaled the Shard.”

“It seems the large humpback standing off to one side is Kulo Luna, the whale being chased by rogue fishermen across the Pacific.”

Finally, the netting was off Kuna, who followed Kulo out of the marina, where they enjoyed a broaching display to show their appreciation. Then, Kulo Luna swan back into the harbour, right up to Shui Razor, as he was heading to a jetty to climb out. She gently nudged him, nodding her head.

“I think she likes you,” said John. 

Shui reached out and kissed Kulo. “Kinda fond of this whale too.” 

Kulo swam over to John, making quite a fuss of him, the headed off again. He was an old friend.


INT - ABC NEWSROOM, LIVE TV

“Well now we’ve seen everything.” “A whaler kiss a whale.”

“We’ve just had it confirmed from LadBet International, that there is one winning ticket for an extraordinary amount of money.”

“Someone has made a crazy wager that the giant whale you are seeing here in this report, would sink another whaling ship – at incredible odds.” “We’ve had it confirmed that this mother of a humpback did exactly that earlier this morning.”

“There is only one ticket for such a bet.”

The camera panned to Shui and John. They were just giving each other a high-five.

Suki chimed in, “Hey guys, someone has won a huge sum of money betting Kulo would sink a second whaling ship. It’s on the news.”

John pulled out his soaked wallet, and looked into it for effect – shaking his head from side to side. 

“Sadly, no. Not that bet. You’d need to be way crazier than me to place that bet. Off the charts.”

Shui Razor pulled out his wallet. It was dry, a water-proof accessory for sports fishermen. He unzipped it, and pulled out a piece of paper.

The crowd went silent. The whole world went silent. Jaws dropped, mouths wide open. The camera homed in on Shui’s wallet. He held up the piece of paper, smiled a broad grin and said, “this bet.”

All around the world, listeners went wild ….

John reached out and slapped Shui on the shoulder. “You son of a gun.”

Suki, shed an involuntary tear, turned away from sight of the crowd. She wiped her eyes and turned into John. She grasped his hand. John returned the gesture.

Shui Razor, was just one big grin, from ear to ear. Too stunned to say anything. He looked out into the marina at the giant humpback whale and her calf, the gathering behind him completely silent still. He was at peace with the world. Honour satisfied. He bowed to the two whales. Both whales responded by moooeing, a parting message. Then turned and swam out of the marina.

Back in the ABC newsroom Dominic Thurston yelled, "Son of a Shogun?"

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The adventures of John Storm and the Elizabeth Swann. John Storm is an ocean adventurer and conservationist. The Elizabeth Swann is a fast solar powered boat. During a race around the world, news of the sinking of a pirate whaling ship reaches John Storm and his mate Dan Hawk. They decide to abandon the race and try and save the whale.

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