It’s hard to believe this is an ocean paradise where divers go to marvel at majestic manta rays.
Judging by this picture, the main thing they’re likely to see is plastic waste.
In fact you can’t even see the surface – which is obscured by ugly flotsam hovering like a murky green cloud above the crystal blue depths.
The beauty spot – near the Indonesian island of Bali – has been utterly choked by a ‘slick’ consisting of bags, bottles, straws, sachets and cups.
And some of it could even have originated in Britain, say experts.
This beauty spot – near the Indonesian island of Bali – has been utterly choked by a ‘slick’ consisting of bags, bottles, straws, sachets and cups
The pictures, taken by British diver Richard Horner, shows the global toll of plastic pollution that the Daily Mail is campaigning to end.
Tourists flock from around the world to see the manta rays that give Manta Point Bay its name.
The fish, which measure 22 feet across, leap from the waves when they are playing.
But Mr Horner, from East Sussex, said he had never seen ocean pollution on such a scale in ten years of visiting the spot – located on the tiny islet of Nusa Penida off the main coast of Bali.
And it is not just a pitiful sight for divers, but a serious threat to the rays, turtles and bamboo sharks that inhabit the surrounding oceans.
Mr Horner, a 45-year-old former mechanical design engineer, said: ‘I’ve been living and diving in Bali for five years.
‘But I have been coming here for diving for more than ten years. It’s an amazing place and much quieter than mainland Bali, which is quite chaotic.
‘What we saw in Manta Point Bay was much worse than anything I’ve seen before.
‘We’ve seen mantas actively avoiding the plastic entering their mouths and sometimes spitting it out.’
Indonesia is one of the world’s worst plastic polluters, believed to be the source of around 10 per cent of plastic waste.
The pictures, taken by British diver Richard Horner, shows the global toll of plastic pollution that the Daily Mail is campaigning to end
The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is the second biggest contributor to marine debris after China.
Most of the labelling in the plastic slick is Indonesian. But currents known as the Indonesian Throughflow, which connects the Pacific and Indian oceans, means it could have come from anywhere.
The Daily Mail is campaigning hard to reduce plastic waste. Our Banish The Bags drive led to a 5p levy on supermarket carriers. Now our Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign is aiming to cut the pollution spoiling our oceans.
Louise Edge, of Greenpeace, said: ‘What we throw away in the UK can end up in the high Arctic, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean or the waters off Bali – taken there by ocean currents or container ships. Plastic waste is a truly global problem and we’ll need to work together to solve it.’
A video of the plastic pollution in Bali has been shared more than 16,000 times on social media. Brightly coloured wrappers are seen clumped together just below the surface and above a manta ray, while tiny fish swim among the detritus.
Mr Horner, from East Sussex, said he had never seen ocean pollution on such a scale in ten years of visiting the spot – located on the tiny islet of Nusa Penida (above) off the main coast of Bali
Mr Horner is pictured battling through carriers, which can be carried across the globe.
He wrote online: ‘The ocean currents brought us in a lovely gift of a slick of jellyfish, plankton, leaves, branches, fronds, sticks, etc… Oh, and some plastic. Some plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags, plastic, plastic, so much plastic!’
He said: ‘The plastic come mostly from rivers here in Indonesia we think – the rivers are used as a dumping ground.
‘The people don’t have the education like we’ve had, when I was growing up.
‘The Keep Britain Tidy campaigns brainwashed us very successfully into not dropping litter – they haven’t had that here yet.
‘Hopefully they will, it would be a very cheap start to dealing with it.’
The plastic slick drifted further into the Indian Ocean the day after the video was filmed on Saturday.
But Bali’s rubbish problem, blamed on islanders and holidaymakers, continues.
It is at its worst during the annual monsoon season, when strong winds push marine flotsam on to the beach and swollen rivers wash rubbish from riverbanks to the coast.
In November, amid a ‘garbage emergency’, officials were forced to remove close to 100 tons of rubbish a day across a 3.7-mile stretch of coastline.