Diver trapped in a sea of plastic
A DIVER struggles against a five mile tide of plastic and rubbish in the once clear waters of the Caribbean.
The thick blanket near Cayos Cochinos marine reserve off Honduras is thought to have been washed out to sea, after heavy rain, from a river used as a rubbish tip.
Photographer Caroline Power, who was on a diving trip, said: “To see something that I care so deeply for being killed, slowly choked to death by human waste, was devastating.”
She said they passed through “nearly five miles” of floating rubbish.
Littering
She added: “Everywhere we looked there were plastic bags of all shapes and sizes – ziplocks, grocery, trash and other packaging.
“Some were whole and the rest were just pieces.
“Sadly, many turtles, fish, whales, and seabirds will mistake those bits of plastic for food.”
Marine scientists say there are five trillion pieces of plastic littering the oceans.
The World Economic Forum forecasts that by 2050, plastic will outweigh fish in our oceans.
Part of the problem is that plastic use has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years and continues to rise.
Governments worldwide are being pressured to do more to combat use of plastic.
This includes reducing usage of packaging and charging for carrier bags at supermarkets.