A photographer caught the disastrous damage being inflicted to our oceans from piles of plastic and Styrofoam near a Caribbean island. This sea of plastic proves the realness of the problem with plastic pollution, experts indicate.
Caroline Power, who specializes in underwater photography, dedicated her career to increase awareness about the damage plastic waste is causing to the world’s waters.
She was devastated to witness such a huge presence of rubbish off the coast of Honduras, between the islands Cayos Cochinos and Roatan.
Plastic Waste Is Ruining Our Oceans & Wildlife
Power explains that seeing something she cares deeply for being destroyed is terrifying and heartbreaking. She points out that when the waste is already in the ocean, it is very challenging and costly to be removed.
This is why it’s crucial to prevent the garbage from going into the oceans in the first place.
For this to happen, we need to work on waste management, increase environmental education, and enable recycling facilities globally. This is a problem that concerns each and every one of us.
Power recalls that they were on a dive trip to several islands that don’t break the ocean surface and are considered one of the cleanest dive sites in this part of the Caribbean. Seeing an area which is known as very clean full of waste was sad.
She explains that they have gone through garbage for almost five miles and wherever they looked, there were plastic products, including ziplocks, grocery, snack bags, chip bags, etc. It was even sadder to see turtles, whales, seabirds, and fish mistaking these plastics for food.
They also reached a section of two miles wide with several trash lines stretching from horizon to horizon. Broken soccer balls, toothbrushes, a TV, flip flops, shoes- you name it, it was there.
Will the Plastic Pollution ever End?
The Blue Planet Society organization that campaigns to put an end of over-fishing and over-exploitation of the world’s oceans points out that the waste came from the Motagua River in Guatemala during heavy rains.
The images were shocking, but they’re not the only ones. Environmental destruction is real, is happening now, and we need to stop it.
Garbage from this river in Guatemala polluting the coast of Honduras has been a problem for some time now. Power adds that there is insufficient education and infrastructure so a lot of people burn waste or throw it in the river.
For Oceana Europe conservationists, the photos caused shock, sadness, and anger; however, they didn’t surprise them. They believe that changing our attitude now is pivotal if we don’t want more plastic in our oceans than fish.
A Message to Humanity
Power hopes that her images will inspire others to make changes in their daily lives that will help keep our planet and oceans save. She is trying hard to lower her environmental footprint after she saw this shocking ‘sea of plastic’.
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