MANILA – On the morning of May 11, a massive blue whale was found washed ashore on Sea Side Beach Resort in Naic, Cavite.
Discovered by locals in the area, this 50-foot blue whale, which looked to be in the late stages of decomposition, immediately captured the attention of nearby communities and beachgoers.
As groups gathered to haul off the dead blue whale, they noticed that its entire body was made of plastic wastes found in the ocean. The slimy innards sprawling out of its underbelly was a mix of plastic bags, remains of plastic containers, sachets, bottles, and more.
The case of Plastics Pollution
Just in the first quarter of 2016, more than 30 dead sperm whales were already found washed up on the shores of Europe, with large amounts of plastic waste in their stomachs. Late last year, one of them was found here in Samal, Davao. The reaction of locals was almost baffling as they simply collected the whale’s carcass and transported it to a local museum where they usually display beached sea creatures found in the area.
Though the Philippines has made commitments to address the plastics issue through the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act since 2001, the country still ranks as third highest contributor of plastic wastes in the ocean.
Timely death of the blue whale
With the Philippines as chair of this year’s ASEAN Summit, Greenpeace Philippines, in partnership with Dentsu Jayme Syfu, took the opportunity to call upon ASEAN environmental leaders to take concrete measures against plastics pollution and to stop environmental degradation and dying marine life.
“The ASEAN region’s contribution to plastic pollution in the oceans cannot be ignored and is already way beyond alarming. We are asking the ASEAN membership to take this issue with a sense of urgency and demand that our leaders initiate bold steps to address plastics pollution through regional cooperation, exacting corporate responsibility, and massive public education,” said Abigail Aguilar, Detox Campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines.
With this, we ask the public to support our cause, by strongly pledging to #RefusePlastic and telling ASEAN Countries to end the scourge of plastics by signing the petition http://bit.ly/aseanplastic #RefusePlastic
WASTED ANIMALS TEAM
Greenpeace Philippines
– Abigail Aguilar, Detox Campaigner – spokesperson/quotable campaigner
– Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner – spokesperson/quotable campaigner
– Jezreel Belleza, Digital Campaigner
– Angelica Pago, Media Campaigner
– Yeb Sano, Executive Director
– Grace Duran Cabus, Images Producer
– Wednesday Abelgas, Intern
Dentsu Jayme Syfu
Chief Creative Officer / Chairmom – Merlee Jayme
Creative Director – Biboy Royong
Copywriter – Soleil Badenhop
Art Director – Blane Rosales
Business Unit Director – Julia Pronstroller-Gallardo
Social Media Manager – Tabbi Tomas
Print Production Coordinator – Sheila Villanueva
Dentsu Media
General Manager – Jam de Guzman
Business Director – Chinkey Llave
Senior Media Manager – Paul Reyes
PR Consultant – Bong Osorio
Photographer – Reuben Hamahiga Dela Cruz
Installation Production Designer – Butch Garcia
