Stumbling to the Stars

It’s no secret that the Geyser of Awesome loves a good sweater, particularly when they’re impressively ugly and/or being worn by cute animals. We’ve seen sweaters on Shetland ponies, cats, pugs, turtles, mini pigs, lambs and even snakes. There was also that unforgettably upsetting clown sweater worn by wilwheaton, but let’s try to stay on track.

Let’s talk about penguins, penguins that don’t just look cute in little sweaters, but who desperately need them to help recover from the potentially lethal affects of oil pollution. When their feathers become coated with oil, penguins lose their ability to keep warm. And when they try to preen their dirty feathers they end up ingesting the toxic oil. As a result oiled penguins frequently die from exposure and starvation. The Penguin Foundation at Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria, Australia takes in oiled penguins and uses knitted sweaters to keep the birds warm and prevent them from preening until their feathers can be properly cleaned.

And you can help them.

If you’re a knitter you can download the penguin sweater pattern here and send in sweaters. But wait, if you aren’t a knitter but still want to help, you can support the foundation by clicking here to donate or adopt a penguin. Put a penguin in a sweater and you’ve not only made the world a cuter place, you’ve also helped save a penguin.

Click here to learn more about the Penguin Foundation and their awesomely good work.