Title: Flipper and Finnegan – The True Story of How Tiny Jumpers Saved Little Penguins
Author: Sophie Cunningham
Illustrator: Anil Tortop
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Imprint: Albert Street Books
Publication date: 16 August, 2022
RRP: $19.99(AUD)
Flipper and Finnegan – The True Story of How Tiny Jumpers Saved Little Penguins is the second collaboration between Sophie Cunningham and Anil Tortop who also created the bestselling story, Tippy and Jellybean. Flipper and Finnegan is a heart-warming picture book that tells the true story about people working together to make a difference for a colony of Little Penguins living on Millowl, the Bunurong name for Philip Island, that were affected by an oil spill. This story is inspired by the 2001 oil spill that affected 438 Little Penguins.
This picture book perfectly strikes the balance between being informative and entertaining as facts about Little Penguins are seamlessly woven into the story. Fascinating information is included about their appearance, habitat, behaviours, adaptations, diet, other animals they live with and threats they may encounter.
These mesmerising Little Penguins are certainly endearing and have captured the world’s attention. People come from near and far to view the seabirds from platforms and boardwalks which have been established at the Philip Island Nature Park to witness the penguin parade nightly at sunset.
In this story, Flipper and Finnegan are diving when suddenly, what looks and feels like a large engulfing shadow suddenly appears above them. The culprit is soon revealed when Flipper emerges from the water and is coated in thick black oil. News spreads quickly to the Wildlife Centre and the rangers are alerted to an oil spill. Oil is toxic for penguins when ingested and this is problematic when they attempt to preen themselves to rid them of oil. An oil coating on a penguins feathers also adversely affects a penguin’s buoyancy and compromises their insulation.
With these concerns at the forefront of the rangers’ minds they set about the enormous and painstaking task of cleaning each penguin with soap and water to dissolve the oil. It quickly becomes apparent that the time delay in getting to each penguin will lead to them becoming cold and ingesting oil while preening. A solution was needed and quickly. It came in the idea of using penguin rehabilitation jumpers which was first trialled in 1998 on penguins coated in oil. This time in 2001 there were not enough jumpers. The rangers alerted the public who swung into action knitting tiny jumpers.
These rehabilitation jumpers made all the difference and contributed to 96% of the penguins being released.
Anil Tortop’s highly expressive and lively illustrations enrich the narrative providing further clues about the penguins’ habitat on the island, their behaviours and personalities. Children and adults alike will delight in the glorious detail in the illustrations.
This is a story about the power of community and craftivism where craft is used to make a difference by stepping up to help the vulnerable penguins. Through this action of knitting jumpers people from all ages and backgrounds connected and found this project gave them a purpose. This picture book also serves as a segue into conversations about oil spills as a form of pollution, its effects as well as discussions about individual actions making a collective difference. It is a powerful reminder that individuals can be part of a solution. My mind also turned to the possibilities for a science experiment, such as creating an ocean habitat and then creating an oil spill. Children could then test different methods to clean up the “oil spill”.