A disastrous oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off New Zealand has become life-threatening for wildlife.

A number of little blue penguins have been caught in the oil and it's feared that more will be effected.

A yarn store called Skeinz was asked to help with the penguin relief by knitting small sweaters to help protect the birds and prevent them from preening their feathers and ingesting the toxic oil. 

The store has been inundated with penguin sweaters from around the world and now says they have plenty to go around.