London whale sculpture may contain 2011 tsunami debris

LONDON (Kyodo) — A giant whale sculpture made of ocean plastic waste is being exhibited in London, but what was meant to raise awareness on pollution has caused an online stir in Japan, after the display contained what appeared to be debris from the 2011 tsunami.

In a post on the social media platform X, a user said, “I was surprised” after spotting the Japanese characters for “Ishinomaki” on the object, which was described as being made out of “waste.”

Ishinomaki was one of the cities in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, that were hit hardest by the tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Another user posted an image showing a plastic basket bearing the name of a port in Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, that was also affected by the tsunami.

The plastic used in the sculpture was collected from beaches in Hawaii, according to Canary Wharf Group, a London-based property developer that exhibited the 11-meter-tall artwork.

Unveiled in a London business district on April 10, the sculpture was designed as a “reminder of the millions of tons of plastic waste swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.”

The firm issued an apology on TikTok to those who were offended by the display.

But the artists who created the sculpture, Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang of a New York-based architecture and design firm, defended their work on social media, saying that “not all of the 150 million tons of plastic is intentionally placed there — or even waste.”

They said on Canary Wharf Group’s social media account that the sculpture is “another reason to be aware of what we use and how we use it, and to work together to protect our planet.”