October 20, 2011
It’s Sweater Weather – for Penguins
Ah, sweater weather. To a New Englander, the cool, crisp fall mornings of October bring to mind the crunching of leaves underfoot, the smell of hot coffee, and the delightful promise of eating only pumpkin flavored things for the next few weeks.
But to penguins in New Zealand, sweater weather means something a little different.
After 350 tons of oil leaked from a stranded cargo ship off the coast of New Zealand, cleanup efforts were directed at the native blue penguins that were soaked in oil. Oil contamination degrades the quality of the penguins’ feathers that help them to stay warm. In response to these concerns, a knitting shop in New Zealand, Skeinz, designed a pattern for knitters to create tiny penguin sized sweaters.
The result is adorable. The sweaters range in style and design—some with cable knits and others with stripes or collars. And the end result is a lot of healthy, clean penguins to be released once their habitat is cleaned up.
Penguin sweaters are great, though it would be better if we didn’t need them at all. That’s why Oceana works to stop offshore oil drilling and protect our coasts from oil contamination.