{"id":107166,"date":"2018-03-12T12:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T12:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=107166"},"modified":"2018-03-11T10:58:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T10:58:15","slug":"plastic-plastic-so-much-plastic-diver-films-sea-of-trash-off-bali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/03\/plastic-plastic-so-much-plastic-diver-films-sea-of-trash-off-bali\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Plastic, Plastic, So Much Plastic!’: Diver Films Sea of Trash Off Bali"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rich Horner \/ Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

6 Mar 2018 – <\/em>British diver Rich Horner posted footage of his plastic<\/a>-infested swim off Bali’s Manta Point on Saturday [3 Mar].<\/p>\n

“The ocean<\/a> currents brought us in a lovely gift of a slick of jellyfish, plankton, leaves, branches, fronds, sticks, etc…. Oh, and some plastic,” Horner wrote on Facebook<\/a>. “Some plastic bags<\/a>, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws<\/a>, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags, plastic, plastic, so much plastic!”<\/p>\n

Manta Point is a cleaning and feeding station for Manta rays just off the shores of Nusa Penida in Indonesia. It attracts the creatures all year round, but the video shows a single ray in the background.<\/p>\n

“Surprise, surprise, there weren’t many mantas there at the cleaning station today,” Horner observed. “They mostly decided not to bother.”<\/p>\n

While the plastic trash was carried away by currents the next day, Horner noted the problem doesn’t simply go away.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AWgfOND2y68<\/p>\n

“Plastic doesn’t really [break down] … it just breaks apart into smaller and smaller pieces,” he wrote. They become microplastics<\/a> that become “coated in yummy algae that fish, turtles, etc., etc. love to eat<\/a>. So these small\/tiny pieces of plastic will be eaten even more, entering the food chain, along with the toxins they contain and have absorbed. That food chain, obviously leads up to us.”<\/p>\n

Horner said the overuse of plastics, unnecessary packaging and single-use items needs to be reduced or eliminated. He also advocates for proper disposal and recycling of the material.<\/p>\n

Plastic pollution is a worldwide epidemic but it’s the worst in Asia<\/a>, where there are few collection and recovery systems. The worst countries at present are China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. These five countries are responsible for up to 60 percent of the marine plastic entering our oceans, according to Stemming the Tide<\/a>,<\/em> a study from the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.<\/p>\n

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These 5 Countries Account for 60% of Plastic Pollution in Oceans http:\/\/t.co\/HIlwiSnefr<\/a> @HealTheBay<\/a> @savingoceans<\/a><\/p>\n

— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) October 16, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n