SCIENCE NEWS
May 29, 2001
Penguins Bundle Up
Knitters around the world help protect penguins from oil-polluted waters
 A penguin models a newly-knit wool sweater. |
From the United States all the way to Australia, people are hard at work helping tiny penguins bundle up. By knitting wool sweaters for the world's smallest penguins in Australia, volunteers are helping save the small birds from oil-polluted waters.
An Oil Spill Down Under
In January 2000, an oil spill near Australia's Phillip Island (100 miles south of Melbourne) harmed the penguins that live there. The tiny penguins--called fairy penguins--stand about 12 inches and weigh just 2 pounds! The oil spill threatened several hundred fairy penguins. Many died after swallowing poisonous oil. Because penguins clean their feathers using their beaks -- a process called preening -- the tiny birds were poisoned by the oils.
 |  These fairy penguins were cleaned of oil after the spill in Australia. |
After last year's spill, rescue workers gathered as many injured birds as they could and tried to figure out how to save them. The fairy penguin's feathers are coated in natural oils that keep them warm in cold water. Because oil from the spill destroyed the penguins' natural oils, the penguins could not protect themselves from the cold. Scientists needed to figure out a way to keep the penguins warm and protect them from the oil.
Sweaters to the Rescue
Soon enough, rescue workers discovered that the best way to save the tiny penguins was to dress them in little wool sweaters to keep them warm. The sweaters also protected the birds from poisonous oil. Soon after word spread of just how helpful these little wool sweaters could be, penguin patterns appeared all over the Internet. People around the world used these patterns to make sweaters in many different colors and designs. Now, scientists have more sweaters than they need!
Australia isn't the only place where sweaters are helping protect penguins. Environmentalists all over the world have warmed up to the idea of wool sweaters. Sweaters helped penguins in South Africa's Robben Island after a huge oil spill last year.
Back to Natural Feathers
How long do the penguins wear the wool jerseys? The penguins eventually outgrow the sweaters as they begin to get better in salt water pools. Eventually, the salt water destroys the wool. By the time the penguins are ready to return to the ocean, their natural oils come back and they are as healthy as ever in nothing but their own feathers.
