Penguins Need Sweaters Too!

 “It’s practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.” Maybe you heard the story on the Weather Channel, or on the news (see ABC story here).  Due to an oil spill off the coast of New Zealand, endangered penguins need an unusual kind of help.  Penguin Sweaters!

Why would penguin sweaters help wildlife during an oil spill?  This is truly a case of “cute comes to the rescue.”  The yarn store SKEINZ sent internet instructions out to the world, hoping that knitters could create sweaters for small penguins who could suffer damaging affect from ingesting oil while preening.  Knitters answered the call, and a sea of sweaters were mailed to NZ.  Here is my contribution – on its way to the Kiwis!

More Details;

“On Oct. 5, a cargo ship ran aground in New Zealand, pouring 350 tons of oil into the ocean. The accident has been regarded as the country’s worst environmental disaster in decades.  More than 1,000 sea birds have already died as a result of the spill, including birds from the country’s native blue penguin population.  Oil can be extremely harmful to penguins, whose feathers are very different from other birds. They have very dense and tiny feathers of different lengths that stick onto them like Velcro, creating a waterproof pseudo-wetsuit.”

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