The Penguin Post has learned that the owner of a New Zealand knitting shop has been overwhelmed with donations of little penguin-sized “sweaters” to protect a number of the birds caught in a recent oil spill. The store, Skeinz, posted an appeal on its Yarn Kitchen blog on Oct. 11, asking volunteers to knit “small penguin PJs” to prevent the birds from preening their feathers and ingesting the oil. A complete set of instructions was included. Perhaps not realizing the popularity of penguins worldwide the store received hundreds of penguin sweaters within days. “As reported earlier, we do have critical mass of jumpers (sweaters),” read the blog entry last Monday. Then, the penguin sweater saga went viral, and the shop got 600 e-mails after it was featured on Good Morning America. Thursday’s update read, “The Wildlife Rescue Centre do not require any more jumpers, but if you have completed one, send it, as we have another rescue centre who has requested the surplus once the crisis has abated.’ The container ship Rena ran aground on a reef off New Zealand’s east coast on Oct. 6 and has spilled approximately 350 tonnes of fuel. Cleanup efforts are continuing and two crew members face charges.
Tags: Good Morning America, Knitting, little blue penguins, new zealand, Rena, Skeinz
