The Story of Flippy the Whale

In 2019, a sad news report caught the attention of Shenandoah Green. A young, 15-foot whale washed ashore in the Philippines. The young whale had eaten plastic trash floating in the ocean, probably thinking it was jellyfish or other food until there was no room left in its stomach for real food. It starved to death with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach. Shenandoah Green was already concerned about single-use plastic and wanted a way to help people understand what our trash was doing to the ocean. The idea of a sculpture the size of the Philippines’ whale that could visit schools and events was born. 

The Virginia Military Institute engineering department built a 15-foot wire whale sculpture for Shenandoah Green that could be put on a trailer and towed to different places to make educational visits. The first trip was to Bessie Weller Elementary in Staunton, Virginia. The children brought plastic trash that was used in their homes to school. They put their plastic into the whale to illustrate where our discarded plastic ends up. Then they came up with ways to cut back on single-use plastic. The students christened the whale sculpture “Flippy.”

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We hope Flippy will inspire you to S.W.A.P.—Save Whales. Avoid Plastic!