The ocean is already filled with 165 million tons of plastics. In a projection, plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish by 2050, according to the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

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

Despite the enactment of Republic 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act since 2001, more efforts are needed in the region to address plastics pollution in the Philippines.

ASEAN needs to work together to set appropriate regulations through the government and encourage businesses and consumers to take action. Corporations need to take responsibility for their environmental impact and seek to transform their practices to bring about a cleaner supply chain.

Greenpeace needed to visualize the worsening case of plastic pollution so we created a 73-foot decomposing blue whale on the shores of one of the most polluted cities in the country.

We used almost 160 kilos worth of plastic wastes collected from the ocean, and visualized a realistic dead whale with sprawling innards from its bloated underbelly, to catch the attention of locals within the area.

As we unveiled the dead whale, it immediately went viral online through a social post from one of the locals. It got picked up on social media because of its stark difference from other beached sea creatures—it’s big, brutal, and terrifying. Then when people realized it was made entirely of plastic wastes, people started talking about the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans, and joined Greenpeace’s call to the ASEAN leaders to recognize the issue.

The ‘Dead Whale’ was mounted on a beach in one of the most polluted cities in the country. It was constructed secretly beside the shore for only 5 days with a team of 9 people.

The materials used were plastic wastes collected from the ocean--white sacks went to the underbelly and its textures, plastic straws and wires to bind the materials together, red sacks for the innards and blood effect, and PET bottles for the baleen teeth, amounting to over 160 kilos of plastic wastes and 73 feet in length.

The sculpture was then transferred to the shore and unveiled a few kilometers away from the ASEAN Leaders Summit.

Photos were posted on social media and immediately got picked up organically by local and international media outfits. Then it resulted to the recognition of ASEAN leaders in the summit.

Awareness was the main objective of the campaign which was fitting for the ASEAN Summit on Coastal and Marine Development that commenced in the Philippines.

With ZERO media spend, the campaign totaled 1.5 Billion impressions in over 100 countries. Top news sites covered the news: CNN Philippines, The Telegraph, People’s Daily China, and more.

News publications and channels: TV5 News PH, Philippine Daily Inquirer, ADN40 Mexico, ARTE 28 France, Nation TV Thailand, Vinhlong TV Vietnam, and more.

Most importantly, the issue was included in a proposal for the next ASEAN summit, just one day after the launch. (Source: “ASEAN elevates coastal, marine environment protection bid”, May 12, 2017, https://www.asean2017.ph/asean-elevates-coastal-marine-environment-protection-bid/)

The campaign played a big role in putting ocean more firmly on the agenda in 2017, triggering other campaigns such as Sky Ocean Plastics. Dead Whale positioned Greenpeace as a leader in the field as part of the #breakfreefromplastics campaign.

We launched the campaign on May 11, 2017, during the 31st ASEAN leaders’ summit on coastal and marine development. As soon as we unveiled the whale, we invited the media to do a live coverage of the stunt. Simultaneously, as locals posted photos online, the live news explained Greenpeace Philippines’ initiative to call on ASEAN leaders to take up the issue of plastic pollution during the summit.

It immediately went viral online, with Filipinos and eventually people from around the world, talking about the issue and how the simple act to #RefusePlastic can be a step to solving the problem.

The ‘Dead Whale’ went from national to international news, and that was enough for the ASEAN leaders to recognize the sculpture and elevate a proposal on plastic pollution for the next leaders’ summit.

Greenpeace have been the watchdog on plastics pollution across the globe—educating the public to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle but now they want people to be bolder and Refuse, Return and Reduce.

With the alarming news of beached sea creatures found with plastic wastes in their stomachs, Greenpeace not only wanted to talk to the public about the issue, they wanted to talk to government officials and delegates from the ASEAN Summit who have the power to take concrete measures against plastics pollution.

By mounting a massive representation of this problem—a dead blue whale which is the largest animal on earth, Greenpeace aimed to generate massive attention as well.