British diver Rich Corner went diving at the very popular diving site Manta Point, not far from the holiday resort of Bali, and filmed his experience of swimming through floating rubbish, which he then posted on social media and Youtube.
“Plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags, plastic, plastic,” says the video’s caption on Youtube. “So much plastic!”
The video shows him moving through floating clouds of plastic waste and food wrappers at a diving site that is meant to be a spot where manta rays go to get cleaned by small fish that munch away at parasites on their skins. In the video there was just one lonely manta ray.
“Surprise, surprise, there weren’t many mantas there at the cleaning station today…” notes Horner, “They mostly decided not to bother.”
The video highlights the danger that plastic waste poses to our oceans and sea creatures’ habitats. It not just shows the rubbish under the surface but also shows how masses of rubbish have gathered on the surface creating a floating island of rubbish.
> Naomi Round
