A Heartbreaking Parade Float Featuring a Giant Whale Choking on Trash at the Viareggio Carnevale in Italy

The floats of the Viareggio Festival, which takes place in Viareggio, Tuscany, Italy, have historically had a sardonic, political bent to them and the floats of the 2019 event were no exception. One such float is of a giant whale choking on and being strangled by single-use plastic that pollutes the oceans worldwide. The float, entitled “High Tide” was conceived and built by artist Roberto Venuccii in partnership with Greenpeace, in order to bring awareness to the harm that the human race is bringing to ocean animals.

The sea has become the trash dump of humanity. Tons of waste, especially plastic, is contaminating the oceans and a gigantic whale – the protagonist of the float, struggles and thrashes among heaps of all kinds of rubbish. An apocalyptic scene that cautions humanity with the message that there is still time to reverse the course and save the sea and ourselves.!

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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