Haus des Meeres and Wien Nord Serviceplan draw attention to the pollution of our oceans on World Ocean Day. 

With an interactive campaign last Thursday, Haus des Meeres and creative agency Wien Nord Serviceplan drew attention to the threat posed to our oceans by plastic waste. The ambient installation is part of the global initiatives for World Ocean Day 2023.

According to rough estimates, up to 12.7 million tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans every year. There it causes immeasurable and sometimes irreversible damage to wildlife and entire ecosystems. From floating islands of garbage on an unimaginable scale to tons of bottles, plastic bags and other waste found in the stomachs of fish and marine mammals - plastic is one of the biggest global threats to the ocean habitat.

With this campaign, Haus des Meeres would like to call on its visitors to recycle or avoid plastic products wherever possible. Because without measures to protect the all-important marine ecosystem, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2040!

To raise awareness of this important issue on the global World Ocean Day on June 8 and to call for a change in thinking and action, Haus des Meeres provided its well-known, oversized mural of an underwater landscape populated by marine animals on Gumpendorfer Straße, which thousands of people pass by every day.

The wall, which normally depicts a colorful and intact ecosystem, was strikingly "flooded" with plastic waste and pasted over in such a way that it could be removed by visitors. Behind each piece of plastic waste was a QR code that led to a landing page with further information on the threat to the world's oceans from plastic pollution.

Georg Rernböck, Creative Director Vienna North Serviceplan, commented: "Every piece of plastic waste that doesn't end up in our oceans is an important step in the right direction. The installation on the mural in front of the Haus des Meeres, with the provocative title 'Out of the sea?', is intended to illustrate the current situation in our oceans and encourage people to rethink their own actions."