Story Behind This Mural
This mural is about the pollution to the ocean they witnessed in central Vietnam due to fish farming. Over 200 fish farms in the area of Whale Island have swamped the surrounding sea with plastic waste and chemicals. Fish food and chemicals used by the farms is steadily killing the local reefs. This, along with the overfishing of large predator fish in the area, has caused an abundance of sea urchins, a sure sign of an unbalanced ecosystem.
After seeing this destruction to the ecosystem on Whale Island and gathering a first-hand testimony from the owner of Whale Island resort Celeste and Aaron decided to spread awareness about the reality of fish farming via a Sea Wall in Ho Chi Minh City. The mural depicts a giant human hand, plagued with an industrialized city reaching into the reef. In the reef, we see an overabundance of menacing sea urchins and lack of other creatures. The message is clear; please think twice before you buy and support farmed fish as many practices are unsustainable and destructive to their surroundings.