A video from Bali, Indonesia, has truly managed to capture the problem of trash and plastic that plagues the world — especially the water bodies across our planet.
Deep sea diving seems like a pleasant and soothing yet adrenaline-pumping activity — especially because of all the fascinating underwater creatures that you could come across. But it wasn't all that blissful a sight for this diver who decided to swim through the ocean expecting endless beauty, but was met with disappointing amounts of plastic bags, bottles and cups.
Manta Point, off the coast of Bali, is a region so famous for its manta rays that it was named after the animal. But when Rich Horner swam across the point, instead of encountering manta rays, what he saw were dumps and piles of plastic that had been dumped into the sea and made up for most of the surrounding underwater landscape.
This led Rich to post a video of the area on YouTube, with the caption: "The ocean currents brought us in a lovely gift of a slick of jellyfish, plankton, leaves, brunches, fronds, sticks, etc... Oh, and some plastic."
He added: "Some plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags, plastic, plastic, so much plastic!"
Rich also criticized the authorities who are responsible for cleaning out the area, saying: "Surprise, surprise, there weren't many mantas there at the cleaning station today... They mostly decided not to bother."
Rich's video only goes on to stress the harmful impact of dumping plastic waste in the sea — thereby posing a major threat to oceanic animals and plant-life there.
While governments across the globe are taking various steps — like charging extra for plastic bags — to curb the use of plastic, the problem lingers on.
As for Bali, the popular tourist destination is also battling an ongoing problem with rubbish. In the past, officials had declared a "garbage emergency" after tides started bringing in plastic waste that covered a long stretch of the coast.
