Today, a towering two-metre high penguin ice sculpture appeared on the shores of the River Thames opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral. Erected by Greenpeace activists, the one ton sculpture of a mother chinstrap penguin and her chick was installed to highlight the threats to marine life as part of a global call by Greenpeace for greater action on ocean protection.

Chris Thorne, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner said;

“We want to send a clear message to the Government and to the public that time is running out to save our oceans. We have seen first-hand how climate change, plastics pollution and industrial fishing are killing marine life in our oceans. A Greenpeace team in Antarctica is reporting that chinstrap penguin populations there are disappearing at an alarming rate.”

From Seoul to London, Buenos Aires to Cape Town, penguin ice sculptures have appeared in public spaces in capital cities across nearly every continent. The ice sculptures were created to boost Greenpeace’s campaign for a strong Global Ocean Treaty that will lead to much greater protection for marine life.

The ice sculpture in London was designed by a team from Icebox – a world leader in the ice-carving industry. It took four people two hours to transport and erect the pre-carved sections of the sculpture to the Thames shoreline where it was installed at low-tide, in front of the Tate Modern on Southbank. With St, Paul’s Cathedral and the skyline of the City of London behind them, the pair of penguins will be slowly submerged beneath the rising tide, eventually melting away into the river.