There’s a new shark on State Beach. Nipsey, a shark made from trash collected from the beach, was created by the Friends of Sengekontacket, and named for the trash — mostly discarded alcohol nips — collected by cleanup volunteers.
“We hoped this display would illustrate the problem with single-use plastics,” said Chris Hall, one of the volunteers who helped decorate Nipsey. “We wanted to get the message to kids that throwing trash on the beach impacts sea life.”
Standing more than 6 feet tall, Nipsey was made from wire and papier-mâché, then decorated with plastic bags, bottles, fishing nets, and other manmade materials found on the beach.
The project was inspired by “Goby,” a fish sculpture installed at a beach in Bali, Indonesia, designed to encourage people to throw away their trash rather than leave it at the beach. Making the sculpture a shark was a way to give it a unique island twist.
“Of course State Beach was the ‘Jaws’ beach, so it was only natural that Nipsey be a shark,” said Hall. “It was our own special take on it.”
