The four storey tall artwork, named Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper), is made from plastic waste collected from Hawaiian beaches.
It serves as a reminder of the 150 million tonnes of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, which outweighs the number of whales.
The sculpture was designed by artist-architect duo Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang from StudioKCA.
The whale’s concrete base is made from spent coffee grounds from Canary Wharf’s cafes and restaurants.
The artists said: “A whale is the largest mammal in the water, and it felt like the right form to take in order to show the scope and scale of the problem.
“There is more plastic swimming in our oceans than there are whales.”
Lowri Harries, associate curator, public art at Canary Wharf Group (CWG), said: “We are very proud to unveil such a thought-provoking and impactful installation as part of our permanent public art collection, particularly one that is as meaningful as it is visually striking.”
The sculpture is part of the UK’s largest free-to-visit outdoor public art collection at Canary Wharf.
It joins more than 100 other artworks, including Camille Walala’s Captivated by Colour and Henry Moore’s Draped Seated Woman.
For more information, visit the Canary Wharf website.
