Dead Whale Project of Greenpeace Philippines: Stirring art installation will show you the reality of marine life

Haunting art installation by Biboy Royong as part of Dead Whale Project of Greenpeace Philippines depicts that aquatic threat due to plastic is more real than ever

Dead Whale Project of Greenpeace Philippines – a stirring art installation by Biboy Royong was positioned near Sea Side Beach Resort in Naic, Cative on May 11.  The haunting installation was put together as part of an awareness campaign about plastic waste by Greenpeace Philipines. To signify the critical nature of plastic waste affecting marine life, Biboy Royong, along with other environmentalists, installed a 50-foot-long sculptor of dead whale created out of plastic waste.

Allegedly, the ‘Dead Whale’ sculptor is based out of a real story according to Biboy Royong, the creative director of innovation group the Dentsu Jayme Syfu. It is inspired from a 38-foot-long juvenile sperm of whale found near the shore of Samal Island in 2016. Reportedly, the cause of the premature death was plastic, hooks and fishnets, along with several stomach worms. The whale replica also has resonating features of a 50-foot-long whale who died as a result of plastic waste.

This “Art imitating death” project was started along with a petition addressed to the ASEAN States. The petition stresses the need to stop plastic waste saying,

The ocean is drowning in plastic.

The ocean is filled with 275 million tons of plastics. The cumulative quantity of plastic waste available to enter the ocean from land is predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025, and is projected to outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050.

A 2015 study named five ASEAN member states as the biggest sources of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. These are: Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. ASEAN countries, due to their lengthy coastlines and high plastic usage, are some of the primary sources of marine plastics globally.

With the Philippines as chair of this year’s ASEAN Summit, this is an opportune time to call on the ASEAN member states to take concrete measures against plastics pollution in the high seas to stop environmental degradation and dwindling of marine life in the region.

ASEAN needs to work together to set appropriate regulations and encourage businesses to take responsibility for their environmental impact and consumers to take action.

People of Philippines also came in to show their support towards this campaign. Many took to Twitter to raise awareness about the danger aquatic life faces due to plastic waste. Some of these are as follows:

 Greenpeace Phillips also took to Facebook to raise awareness. A video was posted on their official page with the caption, “Plastic is choking our ocean friends. It’s time to wake up and #refuseplastic

 It’s time for us to wake up and realise that the caustic actions of industrial waste and pollutions are posing a serious threat to the ocean even to the point that some species are on the verge of extinction. Wake up and #StopPlasticWaste and support #DeadWhaleProject.

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