Fashion penguins

If you’ve ever seen a picture of a penguin running around in a hand-knitted sweater and thought it was just dog sweaters to the extreme, think again – these sweaters serve a legitimate purpose. Penguins are dressed in the brightly-colored sweaters after an oil spill to keep them from preening and to keep them warm.

The sweaters are knit from volunteers around the world, and placed on penguins that have been doused in the slick oil, so that they can’t ingest it when they preen themselves. Sweaters are also placed on the penguins that have had the oil cleaned and scrubbed off of them, because the detergents strip away the natural oils penguins produce to keep warm.

So next time you’re disposing of your boat motor oil, do it in a safe way. One quart may not equal an oil spill, but every little drop can be harmful to the environment.