American Expatriate Costa Rica

Giant whale made from plastic bottles in Puntarenas

Courtesy from ASANA

The data is worrying: it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s seas. Daily human activities are filled with the pollutant material and it reaches rivers and seas for different reasons.

Therefore, a group of organizations and residents of Osa, in Puntarenas, built a whale with 3,494 plastic bottles. The goal is to generate a visual impact for people to reduce the use of single-use plastic.

The replica of the animal is 9 meters long and 5 meters wide. Artist Ablan Corrales, from the artistic group Trincheras of San Isidro, Pérez Zeledón was in charge of the construction.

The whale is a symbol of the impact of plastic on marine life,”

explained Nature’s Friends Association from the Central and South Pacific (ASANA).

The whale was built with bottles from the tourist activity in Bahía Ballena, in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica.

In less than seven months, a whale and dolphin watching boat, which gives disposable bottles of water to tourists, produces enough plastic to build this humpback whale,”

added ASANA.

This work of art is part of a project that began in 2016, when 15 companies in the area began to worry about single-use plastic.

At the beginning of this year, three organizations joined the movement: Geoporter, Forjando Alas and ASANA, who decided to create a campaign to coordinate actions and spread information.

The initiative’s focus is to discourage disposable plastic in Ballena Bay district around Marino Ballena National Park, a high-quality tourist destination with more than 170,000 visits a year,”

explained the Association.

Costa Rica consumes 606 million plastic bottles a year and only 10% of it is recycled.

crhoy.com