Scuba Diver Films Wave of Trash and Debris in Bali
Divers have come to know Indonesia as an underwater paradise, with visions of pristine coral reefs or incredible manta encounters springing to mind before anything else. But this recent video by Rich Horner — a Bali native and former dive instructor, per his Facebook page — shows the ugly effects of plastic pollution in a beautiful place.
Horner shot this video at the Manta Point dive site off Bali less than a week ago as the current brought in a massive wave of plastic debris. Plastic bags, bottles, cups, straws and more can be soon suspended in the clear water as he makes his way around. The site is known as a manta cleaning station, but Horner says, “surprise, surprise, there weren't many mantas there at the cleaning station today.” Horner writes that he’s never seen anything at this scale in Bali.
He went on to note that the current took the trash away a day later, likely sending it out toward the Indian Ocean, but the images are unforgettable.
Project AWARE reports that more than 250 millions tons of plastic is estimated to make its way into the ocean by 2025, and that plastic debris causes $13 billion worth of environmental damage a year. Learn more about the issue and what divers are doing to help at projectaware.org.
