Sweaters for Penguins

Knitters around the globe have donated hundreds of handmade sweaters to help the little Blue Penguins recently affected by the oil spill of the coast of New Zealand.  Rena, an oil tanker, ran aground when it hit a reef off the northern coast of New Zealand and has been spewing oil near the coast where the penguins live. Efforts are underway to contain the spill and offload much of the remaining oil from the ship, but the spill has already had a severe impact on the wildlife. Skeinz, a yarn store in New Zealand, is working with a penguin rescue group and calling on knitters to knit sweaters for the Little Blue Penguins to wear while they recover. The sweaters will keep the penguins warm while they are waiting to be cleaned and prevent them from ingesting the toxic oil when they preen their feathers.  The crude oil destroys the penguin’s natural oils that coats their feathers and keeps them warm. This isn’t the first time little sweaters have been used to aid in the recovery of penguins affected by oil spills. Rescue groups in 2000 discovered the little wool sweaters worked well for warming penguins off the coast of Australia that had been covered in oil after a spill.