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Australia’s oldest man knits adorable penguin sweaters

Australian penguins, dressed to impress.

 

Melanie Price

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 11, 2015   Updated on May 29, 2021, 1:42 pm CDT

When his knack for knitting was discovered, 109-year-old Alfred Date, Australia’s oldest man, became the newest knitter of penguin sweaters. Let us explain.

After moving into a retirement home, nurses noticed Date’s keen knitting abilities and recommended he put his skills toward Knits For Nature, which supplies sweaters for sick penguins. 

The sweaters help by preventing the precious penguins from preening themselves and ingesting any more of the harmful oil off their bodies. Following the 2001 oil spill near Phillip Island, 96 percent of the injured penguins were successfully saved by the Phillip Island Nature Park. 

Penguin Foundation/Facebook

As if penguins weren’t already cute enough.

Photo via Penguin Foundation/Facebook

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*First Published: Feb 11, 2015, 6:46 pm CST