Good morning friends.

Alfred Date at 109 years old is apparently the oldest person living in Australia.  He’s not your ordinary over a 100 years old kind of guy.   He ‘s been knitting sweaters for over 80 years now. Last moth Alfred caught the attention of the world with sweaters he knitted for the Penguin Foundation for Penguins affected by oil pollution.

The picture above is a group of toy Penguins wearing the knitted sweaters actual penguins will wear in time of need. When I spoke to The Penguin Foundation they said; ““Thanks to everyone who has contributed. We don’t require any further jumpers!”

Nonetheless, all of this started because of The Knits for Nature program & the role of penguin sweaters.

Knitted penguin jumpers play an important role in saving little penguins affected by oil pollution. A patch of oil the size of a thumb nail can kill a little penguin. Oiled penguins often die from exposure and starvation. Oil separates and mats feathers, allowing water to get in which makes a penguin very cold, heavy and less able to successfully hunt for food.

When oiled penguins are admitted to the Wildlife Clinic at Phillip Island Nature Parks, a knitted jumper is placed on the penguins temporarily to prevent them from preening and swallowing the toxic oil before they are washed and the oil removed by staff. Jumpers are not used to keep a penguin warm.

Sitting here with this blue knitted sweater is Alfred Date at 109 years old.

Alfred’s story is truly inspiring for all of us and has brought world wide attention back Phillip Island’s Penguin Foundation.  Knitting sweater for penguins started after an oil spill in 2001 which affected 438 penguins. Thanks to those knitted sweater donations, 96 percent of the penguins were saved.

So naturally when another oil spill occurred in 2014, there was a precedent to turn to.  And Alfred Date and many others stepped up to the plate to deliver those life saving knitted sweaters for Penguins.   Truly an amazing story.

Folks here are some important links for The Penguin Foundation;

https://www.facebook.com/PenguinFoundation

http://www.penguinfoundation.org.au/

Email address for The Penguin Foundation; ljones@penguins.org.au