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Giant whale sculpture made from plastic waste appears in London

A four-storey tall sculpture of a blue whale installed in a canal, made from plastic waste, with a person taking a picture of itPA Media

This dramatic blue whale has been installed in London

People walking through Canary Wharf in central London might have had a bit of a surprise when they saw a blue whale leaping out of the water...

But don't worry, it's only a sculpture!

The giant blue statue stands at four storeys tall, and is made from plastic waste and recycled materials.

Titled Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper), it's been created by American designers StudioKCA to highlight the impact of plastic pollution in the oceans.

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A woman and child smile and look at a blue whale sculpture, made of pieces of blue plastic, installed in a canalPA Media

The Whale on the Wharf is free to visit and has joined Canary Wharf's permanent art collection

To make the blue whale itself, the designers worked with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund to collect plastic waste from Hawaiian beaches.

They used the litter they found to build the 11 metre tall sculpture - but it's not just the whale that's made from recycled materials.

The mix of concrete that was used to make the base that the whale rests on contains used coffee grounds from restaurants and cafes in Canary Wharf.

According to Canary Wharf London,190 tonnes of spent coffee grounds is produced in the area every year.

What is plastic pollution?

A close up of plastic bottles on a beach side, with people wearing gloves picking them up and putting them in bagsGetty Images

Plastic is really useful and we use it every day, but it can cause problems for the environment when we throw it away

Plastic pollution is when plastic waste ends up in the environment, and it can damage our oceans, rivers, lakes and beaches.

In March 2025, a new report found that the amount of plastics on beaches in the UK has increased by nearly 10%.

And a 2020 research paper published in a journal called Science found that 19 to 23 million metric tons of worldwide plastic waste entered oceans and water habitats in 2016.

According to UK charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation, that's more than the combined weight of every single blue whale on Earth.

StudioKCA artists Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang, who designed the sculpture, said: "Whale on the Wharf is a physical example of why we need to change how we use and dispose of plastic in the world today."