Bruges in Belgium is famous for its history, architecture, great chocolate and now... its whale.

“Skyscraper”, or “the Bruges Whale”, has been created from 10,000 pounds (4,536 kg) of waste plastic found in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by US architecture and design firm StudioKCA.

The designers worked with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund over a four-month period to collect the material used to create the striking sculpture, which appears to be leaping from one of Bruges’ famous canals.

“Pound for pound, there is more plastic waste from our cities swimming in the ocean than there are whales,” the studio said.

“A whale, breaching from the water, is the first ‘skyscraper of the sea’, and as the largest mammal in the water, it felt like the right form for our piece to take in order to show the scope and scale of the problem.”

Skyscraper is on show for the art installation route of Bruges Triennial 2018 until 16 September.