Penguins don’t normally wear sweaters! But that hasn’t stopped a group of women in England from knitting colorful outfits for the little birds. The sweaters (called “jumpers” in England) are meant to help prevent penguins from getting sick if there is an oil spill.

The women, who call themselves the “Knitting Nannas,” live at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, a place where older people live and receive the care they need. The sweaters they knit are being sent to The Penguin Foundation, a group that helps protect penguins and other animals on Australia’s Phillip Island.  

“I have knitted jumpers for both my children but have never knit for a penguin,” 94-year-old Joyce Baxtrem told the BBC.

The sweaters aren’t meant to keep the penguins warm. Penguins’ own waterproof feathers can do that. 

Instead, workers plan to put the sweaters on the penguins if petroleum (oil) spills from a ship into the waters where the island’s 40,000 penguins swim and hunt. This will keep the penguins from accidentally drinking in the toxic petroleum when they use their beaks to preen, or clean, their feathers. The penguins will wear the sweaters until rescue workers have time to wash out the petroleum.