Two incredible stories. First the Telegraph reports a pet dog survived four months lost at sea off Australia. It was washed overboard in bad weather near Queensland.

To stay alive, the hardy dog swam five nautical miles through stormy seas to St Bees Island.

There, she managed to fend off starvation by hunting wild baby goats until she was captured last week by rangers who patrol the largely uninhabited island. They believed they had caught a wild dog until they were contacted by Mrs Griffith, who had heard that a cattle dog had been spotted in the region.

Second, the Telegraph also reports that the US teenager who was sitting on a dis-masted but safe vessel full of supplies in the Indian Ocean could cost the Australian government $300,000 for her rescue. Her parents say they can not afford to pay.

“What price would you put on a child’s life?” Maryanne Sunderland said yesterday when asked about compensation.

“The full cost of chartering an Airbus would be so high, you’d think they (Australian rescue authorities) would have to work with the US government for that.

“We’re not wealthy people.”

Sailing experts have criticized the Sunderland family for sending their 16 year old daughter into the south seas during winter, the roughest time of the year. Their defense has been that they, and she, knew exactly what they were doing. Now they seem to be backing away from the prior knowledge argument as the cost of her survival has been raised.