Every year, around about now, Australia's little penguins are packing on the pounds in preparation for a group striptease and it's risky business.
The biggest threat to the species' annual shedding of feathers is the potential for a hostile, even murderous, audience.
Domestic dogs, cats and foxes have been known to snap them up when they are stuck on shore for weeks, waiting for their new plumage to develop.
There's also the risk that humans will stage unwarranted "rescues" because they don't understand the penguin moulting process involves a whole lot of standing around in the same spot.
It's no wonder this time of year is one of the most precarious for the world's smallest penguin species that inhabits the shorelines of southern Australia.
But there's plenty people can do to help keep penguins safe and one of the biggest is to keep dogs on leashes in beachside areas where little penguins live.
"After they've spent a couple of weeks at sea, fattening up and conserving energy, they'll come ashore to moult, which takes about three weeks in total," said Liz Arthur from the Taronga Wildlife Hospital.
"As the new feathers come through, it pushes all the old feathers out and they look like shedding pom-poms. In that time, they can't go in the water because they're not waterproof. That's when they're vulnerable to dog attacks."
Ms Arthur said they can sometimes be found in weird places, and that sometimes raises alarm with members of the public.
"They'll hang out on rocks or down between rocks near the water. They may go up onto grass, if there's a park near the beach.
"People might think oh my God, there's something wrong with this penguin, because it's not in the water, and think they have to rescue it. But it's quite normal for them to be out of the water for that period of time."
Having said that, if anyone suspects a penguin might be sick or injured, they should contact a wildlife rescue group.
"People shouldn't try to catch a penguin themselves. They can actually be quite pecky and nasty, cute and all as they look."
