Northpinellas: Children's yarn to save penguins

The Little Penguins of Phillip Island, Australia, are not trading their signature tuxedo look, compliments of Mother Nature, for the latest Ralph Lauren.

The hand-knit sweater, one of thousands donated by volunteers throughout the world, is part of a relief effort to save Australian penguins injured by an oil spill. The effort has extended to a class of sixth-graders at Keswick Christian School, who plan to knit a batch over the holidays.

"I'm always looking for something unusual," said Eleanor Baumner, the teacher coordinating the Keswick effort. "One year I had a class make a giant Titanic out of Rice Krispies, marshmallows and butter. It was over 5 feet wide. We used 60 boxes of cereal."

So what's a little yarn?

"The yarn has been a problem. It has to be pure wool," Mrs. Baumner said. "And in Florida, we just don't use it that much."

Even though very little is needed to clothe a penguin, "It's also expensive," she said. "I knit the first half of a sweater and spent $3."

She hopes to get yarn, along with needles (No. 3 or No. 5, double-pointed), donated so her students can begin knitting over the holidays.

First, they have to learn how.

"We're going to get some moms in, and I'm hoping to find others who can teach the students," Mrs. Baumner said.

The plight of the penguins began in January when a ship cruising near Phillip Island emptied its bilge, fouling the island's habitat.

Phillip Island, less than 100 miles south of Melbourne, is home to varied wildlife, but none so famous as the Little Penguins, the smallest in the world, standing about 12 inches and weighing 2 pounds. About 500,000 visitors come to the island each year to watch the Penguin Parade. At sunrise every day, an estimated 5,000 birds rise from their burrows, waddle across Summerland Beach and plunge into the ocean for a day of fishing. At sunset, they return and hunker down for the night. Tourists crowd boardwalks and viewing stands to watch the procession.

After several hundred of them swam through the oil slick, the penguins could not spread their natural oil, which acts as waterproofing, through their feathers without swallowing the ship's oil. When they tried to swim, they sank like rocks. Workers who manage the Phillip Island Reserve gathered the injured birds and sent out a plea for sweaters.

The sweaters' purpose is twofold: They provide warmth for the penguins' damaged skin and prevent them from preening and ingesting fatal doses of petroleum.

The injured penguins, thus enrobed and insulated, bob like colorful buoys in holding pens that keep them isolated and safe from predators. The sweaters begin to disintegrate in the saltwater and have to be replaced often until the penguins have healed, their natural oils have been restored and they can be returned to the wild.

For almost a year, knitters worldwide have sent sweaters, some customized with jaunty bows and insignias. A rumor began circulating, after a story appeared on a Web site, that the overwhelming response had created a sweater glut.

Not true, said Mrs. Baumner.

"We heard that and called Phillip Island. They said they still need sweaters, both over the phone and in an e-mail they sent us."

The students will work from a pattern sent by the reserve, a ribbed, high-neck design with openings for flippers. Finished sweaters measure about 4 inches by 9 inches. Mrs. Baumner, who knows how to knit, said she estimates that each one will take several hours to complete.

"I'd like to send a batch of sweaters off by March," Mrs. Baumner said, which will be just in time for the Australian winter. "Penguins, there's just something about them."

To help, call Keswick at 393-9100.

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