People who live along the coastlines of China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are among those most impacted by plastic pollution. Throughout years of unreported cases of beached whales in our shorelines and despite efforts to address issues through the Ecological solid waste management Act of 2001, plastic pollution remains to be a pressing issue.

With the Philippines as chair of the 2017 ASEAN Summit, Greenpeace Philippines took the opportunity to call upon ASEAN environmental leaders to take concrete measures against plastic pollution.

On May 11, 2017, during the summit on coastal and marine development, a 73-foot decomposing “Dead Whale” was mounted on the shores of Naic, Cavite, a province south of Metro Manila.. Upon revelation, locals were shocked with what they saw: a realistic, bloody and lifeless blue whale. But when they looked closer, they discovered that it was made of single use plastics, including plastic wastes such as plastic bags, PET bottles, and sachets.

When photos and videos were shared online, it immediately spiraled a viral effect generating over 1.5 Billion impressions internationally.