Giant 'Dead Whale' is 'beached' as a reminder of the worldwide plastic pollution threat

Despite the fact that there are many projects to change people’s minds about pollution, it is a problem very difficult to eradicate.

As a way to motivate others, Greenpeace Philippines created a huge illustration of a whale created only with plastic waste. The group pointed out that their goal was to show people how bad the situation can be.

According to Expand Your Consciousness, they admitted there are many ways to solve plastic pollution, like recycling it as much as possible and or using biodegradable containers, such as hemp or glass.

The sculpture, that served as a powerful visual message shared globally, was titled ‘Dead Whale’ and it consisted of a 50-foot-long whale replica that was ‘beached’ near the shoreline in Manila Bay.

Greenpeace Philippines took to Facebook to post the photos and videos of the huge whale to reach as many people as possible. Biboy Royong, the creative director of the project, revealed what inspired the team to do such a thing.

According to him, they knew that they had to do something to change people’s minds when a 38’ long whale was found dead after ingesting plastic, fishnet, hook, rope, and steel wire.

The shape, color, texture, size, and proportion of the Dead Whale are based on pictures of real beached whales. He admitted they showed a decomposed whale in order to play with the texture of its skin using plastic trash they collected.

‘There was an environmental projection that by 2050, if we don’t stop polluting our waters, there could be more ocean wastes than marine life.’

Biboy Royong, Expand Your Consciousness, February 5, 2018.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Dead Whale is that the group did little-to-no advertising and caught several people by surprise, who thought it was a real whale and took to social media to make the ‘news’ viral.

Greenpeace Philippines finally circulated an online petition asking the ASEAN member states to take concrete measures against plastic pollution in the high seas.