A couple has shared a sobering find on their Instagram, after they returned to their favourite beach to find it "drowned" in plastic.
Marie Fe and Jake Snow are Instagram influencers, with over 400,000 followers. On Thursday, they posted two photos taken a year apart.
- Earth Day 2018 targets plastic pollution
- NZ oceans world's worst for birds eating plastic
- Recycling won't be enough to save NZ from the plastic plague - report
Both are at the same place: the Pink Beach on Komodo Islands in Indonesia. They are both framed exactly the same way - the only difference being the massive amount of plastic waste clogging the beach.
"This is the reality of the horrible situation we find ourselves in," wrote the pair on Instagram. "Even the most secluded and untouched beauties of the world are being drowned in plastic.
"We never imagined that upon return to our favourite beach in the world we would find such a disturbing scene. It really broke our hearts to see the amount of rubbish that had washed up on this once beautiful beach."
The duo called on their following to use the hashtag #plasticparadise to show similar places that are being destroyed by plastic pollution.
The post has received over 50,000 likes, and hundreds of comments, with many of those who reacted thanking the pair for bringing awareness to the reality.
"So very sad and unfortunately a growing reality... but great post! A great way of bringing about awareness to something that really is a big problem," wrote one woman.
However not everyone was so impressed.
"Did you pick up the rubbish or just get the photo?" wrote another user.
"It would have been a better montage of you actually doing something about it instead of "creating awareness" as an instagram influencer."
Newshub.
