{"id":133,"date":"2011-10-24T20:52:05","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T00:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=133"},"modified":"2011-10-24T20:52:05","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T00:52:05","slug":"sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\nWhen the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand\u2019s North Island, gallons of oil and hazardous materials spilled into the waters, washing up on the pristine beaches and creating an environmental disaster.<\/p>\nIn the weeks since, nearly 1,300 birds have died as a result of the spill. But some crafty bird lovers jumped at the chance to help \u2013 knitting sweaters for penguins.<\/p>\nWhen I first saw the story, I thought it was a joke. But nope, it\u2019s real. And\u00a0it\u2019s so darned cute I just had to share it. (And make sure you read through to the end for a link to a super cute song about sweaters for penguins.)<\/p>\nOn October 11th, a post on <a href=\"http:\/\/theyarnkitchen.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Yarn Kitchen blog said that Skeinz yarn store<\/strong> <\/a>had \u201cbeen asked to help with the penguin relief by knitting small Penguin PJ\u2019s to help protect the birds & prevent them from preening their feather & ingesting the toxic oil.\u201d <\/p>\nThe directions to make the little sweaters (also called jumpers)\u00a0\u2013 mock turtlenecks with slits on the sides for penguin wings \u2013 were posted on the blog and, fueled by media stories, knitters around the world stepped up to fill the request. So many sweaters poured in, in fact, that just days later they had a \u201ccritical mass of jumpers\u201d.<\/p>\nThe thought of a cute little penguin in a cute little sweater is \u2026 well, cute. But how helpful are the knitted woolies?<\/p>\nIn a story on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz\/news\/penguin-sweaters-wont-be-used\/1145547\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Bay of Plenty Times website<\/strong><\/a>, a spokesman for the Tauranga wildlife centre, where the penguins are being cared for, said they\u2019ve recieved the sweaters and while they appreciate the efforts don\u2019t plan to use the knitted\u00a0 jumpers.<\/p>\nNatalie Clark, New Zealand bird and mammal keeper at the Auckland Zoo, is quoted in the story: \u201cPutting something like that on a penguin, it\u2019s probably only going to stress it out even more than they already are. These are wild penguins, they haven\u2019t had any interaction with humans. There\u2019s already enough stress on a bird without trying to put a sweater on it.\u201d<\/p>\nThe process of cleaning the birds does strip them of their natural oil and makes them cold,\u00a0but they\u2019re kept under warming lamps and dryers. Coupled with the warm temperatures, there isn\u2019t a concern that the penguins need sweaters to stay warm.<\/p>\nBut penguin jumpers have <\/em>been used in the past to keep penguins from preening their feathers until they can be washed of the\u00a0oil and toxic materials that coat them after an environmental disaster. So it\u2019s not so silly after all.<\/p>\nThe idea\u00a0is credited to\u00a0Marg Healy, who in\u00a01998 was a rehabilitation officer at the Phillip Island Nature Park in Australia when\u00a0a tanker spilled 1,000 gallons of oil into the Bass Strait. She\u2019d seen the sweater idea used on seabirds in another oil spill; working with a local knitter she came up with several prototypes and eventually a pattern to create a sweater for penguins that would keep them from preening their oil-slicked feathers until they could be washed. (You can learn more, and find the pattern, <a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=xPdSaU07wRoC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=sweaters+penguins+phillip+island+nature+park+marg+healy&source=bl&ots=vOdvbQfvTM&sig=bA9MdxAyHmbBtThGSGx7Xu90iYE&hl=en&ei=mQWmTqmiEYnY0QHIzMy4Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">in the book \u201cAstounding Knits!\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\nIn 20o2, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jamesgordon.ca\/music\/SweatersForPenguins.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Canadian songwriter James Gordon penned a silly little\u00a0song for CBC\u2019s \u201cBasic Black\u201d called \u201cSweaters for Penguins\u201d<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> prompted by a BBC story of an outpouring of penguin sweaters knitted for a colony of Fairy Penguins on Tasmania.<\/p>\nSo not only do the\u00a0 penguins look cute in their little sweaters, they actually do\u00a0serve an important purpose in the days immediately after an environmental disaster.<\/p>\nMaree Buscke of Skeinz.com told\u00a0The Bay of Plenty Times that even if the sweaters weren\u2019t used, knitting them was a way for people to help. An Australian group has already offered to take the excess sweaters off her hands.<\/p>\n\u00a0So kudos to the folks who have taken time to knits sweaters for penguins. Your concern and efforts are appreciated!<\/p>\nAnd be sure to give the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jamesgordon.ca\/music\/SweatersForPenguins.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">song \u201cSweaters for Penguins\u201d a listen on James Gordon\u2019s website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand\u2019s North Island, gallons of oil and hazardous materials spilled into the waters, washing up on the pristine beaches and creating an environmental disaster. In the weeks since, nearly 1,300 birds have died as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,19],"tags":[755,38,72,81,83,85,86,88,101,767],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-rescue","category-animals-in-the-news","category-animals-in-music","tag-animal-rescue","tag-australia","tag-james-gordon","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-oil-spill","tag-penguins","tag-phillip-island-nature-park","tag-sweaters","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Heavenly Creatures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joanne Brokaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joanne Brokaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/\",\"name\":\"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/94bed5395fce7e743ffeee45a9d924e9\"},\"description\":\"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/\",\"name\":\"Heavenly Creatures\",\"description\":\"Joanne Brokaw on Animals, God, Faith & Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/94bed5395fce7e743ffeee45a9d924e9\",\"name\":\"Joanne Brokaw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d580addf2c7c4b8b71371832be8d3d0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d580addf2c7c4b8b71371832be8d3d0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joanne Brokaw\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/author\/joannebrokaw\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations","description":"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations","og_description":"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/","og_site_name":"Heavenly Creatures","article_published_time":"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00","author":"Joanne Brokaw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joanne Brokaw","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/","name":"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-25T00:52:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/94bed5395fce7e743ffeee45a9d924e9"},"description":"When the Liberian-flagged Rena crashed October 5th on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/sweaters-for-penguins-campaign-brings-in-hundreds-of-donations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sweaters for penguins campaign brings in hundreds of donations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/","name":"Heavenly Creatures","description":"Joanne Brokaw on Animals, God, Faith & Life","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/94bed5395fce7e743ffeee45a9d924e9","name":"Joanne Brokaw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d580addf2c7c4b8b71371832be8d3d0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d580addf2c7c4b8b71371832be8d3d0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joanne Brokaw"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/author\/joannebrokaw\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}