5 shocking photos of swimming in ocean - plastic pollution

5 shocking photos of swimming in ocean - plastic pollution

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Photographer Nick Pumphrey hoped to encounter manta rays on a recent dive trip. He got his wish, but he also came face to face with a marine crisis: ocean plastic pollution.

“These heartbreaking images were taken near Nusa Lembongan, a tiny island just off the coast of Bali,” Pumphrey told The Coral Triangle. “Some of Bali’s best dive sites are in this area. But in rainy season, plastic pollution that has gathered in Bali’s waterways is washed out to sea. Thousands of tons of rubbish, some of it from neighbouring Java, is carried on local currents to wash up on beaches—Bali’s south west coast is particularly hard hit.”

He added, “This problem is hardly exclusive to Bali—but because of the island’s international reputation as a tourism destination, it tends to get coverage in the media.”

Pumphrey is an ambassador for Take 3, an Australian nonprofit that campaigns to clean up beach and ocean trash for the sake of marine animals and their habitat. The group’s name is its goal: To get each person who visits a beach or waterway to “take three pieces of rubbish” away with them when they leave.

Pumphrey’s images make a powerful case for cleaning up marine plastic pollution.

Original Article at: http://www.takepart.com/photos/5-shocking-photos-of-swimming-in-ocean-plastic-pollution/?cmpid=foodinc-fb


Manta Ray Swimming Through Plastic Trash
“I was on a quick trip over to Nusa Lembongan with a couple of friends. One of the girls really had her heart set on seeing the manta rays, and I figured I could possibly get a few cool underwater shots at the same time,” Pumphrey told The Coral Triangle. “It was when I dived under for the first time that I saw it all. It was pretty shocking, an unwelcome surprise for sure! There was a lot of it, so I felt compelled to shoot it as well as the manta rays.”
Manta rays feed by taking in water and filtering out tiny marine animals called zooplankton, so they probably ingest very small pieces of plastic as well.
(Photo: Courtesy Nick Pumphrey/Take 3)

Divers Floating Amid Abundant Plastic Pollution

A recent report estimated that the seas contain the equivalent of five grocery bags full of plastic for every foot of coastline around the world, and that could double to 10 bags’ worth by 2025.
People in richer, industrialized nations should reduce plastic use wherever possible, such as switching to reusable containers for foods and drinks, the researchers suggested. Developing countries are still struggling to adopt effective waste-management systems.
(Photo: Courtesy Nick Pumphrey/Take 3)

Single-Serving Containers Become Ocean Plastic Pollution

Single-portion plastic containers made up a lot of the floating trash Pumphrey encountered in Bali.
“I spoke to a few people in Bali on my recent trip there. The youngsters of Bali are very awake to the problem; they are actively trying to bring sound ideas to the table, like giant water nets in rivers to stop the plastic ending up in the sea and reusable bottles,” he told The Coral Triangle. “It is a good start that they are aware, but it still seems that the problem is not being addressed properly by those with a little bit more ‘power.’ ”
(Photo: Courtesy Nick Pumphrey/Take 3)

Diver and Manta Ray Swim Through a Flurry of Plastic Pollution

“It seems the big problem is that Indonesia does not have the infrastructure to deal with all of it properly,” Pumphrey told The Coral Triangle, referring to the plastic trash that ends up in the archipelago nation’s coastal waters. Scientists have said that 99 percent of this plastic cannot be accounted for once it enters the ocean. Chances are it’s being eaten by marine animals and working its way through the food web to fish that humans consume.
(Photo: Courtesy Nick Pumphrey/Take 3)

Snorkeler Swims Amid Plastic Trash

Tens of thousands of individual animals, including all sea turtles and around half of known marine mammals, have encountered some kind of human-made trash in the ocean, say scientists. Often they die as a result.
“For people to make a difference, they have to become aware of the problem first, then aware of personal habits when it comes to purchasing goods,” Pumphrey told The Coral Triangle. “Like buying the 10-liter water dispensers instead of bottles every day of your trip. That is a start for individuals.” But governments must act as well to catch trash before it gets into the ocean.
(Photo: Courtesy Nick Pumphrey/Take 3)