A giant, 10 metre plastic whale made entirely of waste plastic has been unveiled to raise awareness about ocean pollution. The whale is touring the UK as part of the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, to bring this problem to life and inspire people to take action, and has now arrived in London.
The plastic whale is covered with the same amount of plastic bags, bottles and straws - 250 kg - that end up in the ocean every second.
It took 2 weeks, 4 people and hundreds of plastic bags & bottles pulled from the ocean, the River Thames and local recycling plants.
More than 8 million tonnes of plastic pollute the world's oceans every year. If nothing changes, by 2050 the plastic in the sea could weigh more than all the fish.
Why the campaign?
As Sky puts it: “We simply cannot afford for our oceans and seas to reach a critical tipping point.
Through our news channels, Sky News in the UK and TG24 in Italy, we are raising awareness of how plastics and other pollution are affecting our oceans. Big issues for our ocean health such as this affect us all. They're also something we all have a role to play in- if we all work together, we can help to protect our oceans.”