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Residents in a care home in England have been knitting (编织) tiny sweaters to help penguins rescued from oil spills (when oil leaks into the sea from ships).

Penguins in danger

Penguins produce a special liquid that makes their feathers waterproof. They smooth it over their feathers with their beaks (喙), keeping them dry and warm in the water. However, when oil sticks to their feathers (羽毛), it ruins their waterproofing. This leaves the birds cold and unable to swim or hunt for food. Worse still, they may take in the oil, which can make them sick and can even kill them.

Grannies to the rescue

To clean them up, rescuers wash oiled birds several times with dishwashing liquid. However, when the penguins arrive they are often too weak for this to happen straight away-they have to build up enough energy to be washed. The rescuers put special sweaters onto the birds. The pullovers keep the penguins warm and stop them from using their beaks to clean feathers, so they don't get sick from taking in oil.

Knitting for nature

People from around the world have been knitting sweaters for penguins for over 20 years. In 2001, 438 penguins in Australia were affected by an oil spill, and 96% of them were saved thanks to the knitted sweaters. The Penguin Foundation charity hopes more and more people can contribute their knitting skills to provide life-saving sweaters for little penguins.

Become a knitting hero

Do you have a talented family member who loves knitting, or do you know how to knit yourself? Why not make a sweater to send to the Penguin Foundation? The sweaters need to be 100% wool, because pure wool is perfect for keeping penguins warm, while also being breathable. For more information and the knitting pattern, please click here.