The Water We’re Swimming In is a public sculpture by Elaine Alder in downtown New Bedford, MA.

The sculpture depicts life sized North Atlantic right whales, frolicking in the lawn in Captain Paul Cuffe Park, as if it were water. The sculpture is made of marine debris, fishing rope, worn-out tires, and steel. The plastic used in the sculpture is sealed to prevent micro plastic shedding during its three year life. The sculpture consists of four individual pieces, arranged in a constellation—A large tail, a pectoral flipper, a blowhole, and a rostrum poking up out of the water.

Plastic in our environment harms us all. We must stop it at the source on land and at sea, before it becomes marine debris.

Right whales are social animals. Healthy, happy whales gather at the surface of the water to play, communicate, and breed. As you walk among the whales in this sculpture, imagine what it might be like to be one of them, swimming around in plastic.

NOAA Fisheries estimates that over 85 percent of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once in their lifetime. The plastic rope in which they become entangled joins the waste stream. Along with community volunteers, I picked up some of the rope in this sculpture from the beach and sourced some of it from Net Your Problem, a local organization that recycles unusable gear.

Protect our majestic whale relatives and all the other relatives who share our environment from plastic.